


A New Alliance

by AHSCovenAvengersAlliance (APC1989)



Category: American Horror Story: Coven, Marvel Cinematic Universe
Genre: Gen, Multi
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2018-06-02
Updated: 2018-12-14
Packaged: 2019-05-17 10:13:05
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 12
Words: 34,810
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/14830346
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/APC1989/pseuds/AHSCovenAvengersAlliance
Summary: Cordelia Goode is contacted by Nick Fury who tells her  there is intelligence that she is the the Winter Soldier's next target. Luckily members of The Avengers team will be there to help. However whether witches and superheroes can learn to trust each other remains to be seen.





	1. Chapter 1

It was morning at Ms. Robichaux's Academy and already Cordelia Goode was being faced with a busy day.  
"Girls! There's no need to run down the stairs. The last thing we need is for anyone to break an ankle. Zoe, what's the plan for the day?"  
"Here are the schedules, I'm taking one group to focus on levitation. Queenie’s group will be focusing on concilium, Madison and Callista’s on telekinesis and pyrokinesis, Misty and Catherine will be focusing on potions and healing, I figured you and Nan could take the rest and focus on divination and clairvoyance.”  
"Sounds great," said Cordelia. "Oh Luke! Could you do that thing that fixes the garbage disposal?"  
"Whatever you need Cordelia, I'll get right on it after breakfast."  
"Thanks, you're the best."  
"Cordelia!" Kyle walked quickly towards her, "Mr. Franklin is here. Should I show him to your office?"  
“Yes please. Tell him I'll be up shortly." Kyle left and Queenie walked over.  
"Everyone is assembled for morning gathering."  
"Excellent" said Cordelia.  
"After you," said Queenie and together they walked into the assembly.  
"Good Morning Girls, a few announcements I have schedules for today Group A will be with Zoe, Group B with Queenie, Group C with Madison and Callista, Group D with Misty and Catherine, and Group E with Nan and I. Please check after breakfast to find out which group you are in.  
There is another announcement which I think will be exciting to all of you. As you know, we have had some slight limitations on space but hopefully that is about to change. As soon as our gathering is adjourned I will be signing papers to buy the property next door." There was an outburst of applause which made Cordelia smile. "While I can't promise that everyone will get their own bedroom we'll hopefully all have a little more room to breathe. We will start cleaning out the house tomorrow and there will be a sign-up sheet for volunteers. Well, I think that's about it, you're dismissed have a good breakfast.” As the students made their way to the dining room Cordelia went up to her office.  
"Good Morning Mr. Franklin."  
"Why Hello Ms. Goode, I have the papers for you right here. Everything's in order all you need to do is sign."  
"Perfect," said Cordelia smiling.  
"Ok, just sign here...and here...I must say Ms. Goode you are a brave woman."  
"In what way Mr. Franklin?"  
"Well I must say with the unpleasant events on the property, I don't consider myself weak willed but that would make me think twice."  
"What happened was definitely a tragedy but I see it as us giving the place a new beginning."  
"That's certainly a nice way to look at it. Now if you'll just sign here..."  
Of course," said Cordelia and with a few strokes of the pen she provided the final signature.  
"Well congratulations, Ms. Goode. Here are the keys to the house and I think that wraps everything up for today."  
"Thank You Mr. Franklin, would you like to join us for breakfast?"  
"No thank you Ms. Goode, unfortunately the work of a lawyer doesn't leave much time for relaxation. I'll see myself out."  
"Good bye, I'll see you next week." Once Mr. Franklin left, she was about to make her way down to breakfast when Zoe and Queenie came in.  
"When were you going to tell us you got new housing for the school?" asked Zoe. Cordelia smiled.  
"I figured it would be a pleasant surprise for everyone."  
"Does the school have the money though?"  
"Actually we do, or I do," said Cordelia. "It turns out that a trust fund in Hank's name was left to me as well as his shares in the Delphi Trust. Apparently I'm the only living relative."  
"Well at least those jackasses were good for something," said Queenie. There was an uneasy silence. "Oh my God, I'm so stupid...Cordelia I’m so sorry, I…"  
"It's alright Queenie, I know you didn't mean it badly. Come on let's get some breakfast."  
"Cordelia..."  
"It's ok Queenie, forget it." With that the three of them made their way downstairs to join the other students.

Later that night, Cordelia was up grading papers. However her thoughts turned to her former husband. She put aside the last of the papers and sighed.  
She had been married to Hank for six years and many of those years were happy ones...or at least they seemed to be. However it turned out that Hank was from a long line of witch hunters who had used Cordelia's connections and research to track down and kill witches. Cordelia had found out about his betrayals through her visions and she had been in the process of filing for divorce before his death. Yet in spite of all the horrible things he had done, the infidelity, the killings, and the betrayals he had died attempting to save Cordelia from the wrath of Marie Laveau. In the end he had loved her and as much anger Cordelia still felt there was a part of her that still loved him. The easiest course was not to think about it at all and with her rise to Supreme and leading the coven that had been a fairly simple task. However tonight the feelings and memories she had suppressed were rising to the surface and Cordelia was having a difficult time forcing them away. 

The next morning Cordelia woke up early. As she was getting dressed there was a knock at the door. "Come in," Zoe came into the room.  
"Hey just coming to check on you though I figured you'd be up already."  
"How about the others?"  
"The Twins are up as well as Nan and Luke, Queenie and Madison might need a wakeup call though...Madison more so then Queenie."  
"I'll go get them," said Cordelia, "you go get some breakfast with the others."  
"Ok," said Zoe. Before leaving the room though she stopped and turned toward Cordelia. “Hey um, are you…? Queenie and I were both worried about you the other day. Queenie was really freaked out that what she said might have upset you.”  
“It’s fine, there’s no need…”  
“Maybe, but I wanted to say, for both of us, that Hank may have been a witch hunter but he was your husband and we get that things in that respect are…complicated.”  
“I won’t deny that, but I’d just as soon put the issue to rest and focus other things like getting the new house cleaned, ok?”  
“Ok, I’ll see you at breakfast then.” Zoe left and Cordelia walked down the hall to Queenie and Madison’s room. She knocked on the door and poked her head inside.  
“Good Morning girls! We've got a lot of work ahead of us today.”  
"Seriously Cordelia,” Madison sat up in her bed, “haven't you heard of sleeping in on Saturday?"  
"I'm surprised Madison, I'd think of all the girls you'd be the most excited about having more space."  
"I am, just not at 8:15 in the morning," Madison rolled over in the bed, "seriously wake me in an hour." Queenie rolled her eyes. With a wink at Cordelia she pinched herself on the wrist. Madison sat up sharply.  
"Jesus Christ Queenie, I'm up...I'm up!"  
"Ok," said Cordelia, "so breakfast downstairs then we'll start getting things together." She left the room and headed downstairs towards the kitchen.  
"So what's for breakfast ladies?"  
"Bacon and eggs, I figured we'd need a lot of protein for today," said Catherine. "Do you want scrambled or fried?"  
"Scrambled," said Cordelia.  
"Ok we should have them up in a bit."  
"Thanks," said Cordelia, "Hey Luke, can I talk to you a moment?"  
“Sure thing Cordelia," he followed her out into the nearby hallway, "what's up?"  
"Well Luke, I know you volunteered to help out with the house today but...I know you used to live there and you don't exactly have the greatest memories, I just want to make sure you'll be ok."  
"I'll be fine Cordelia, I mean the way I see it if I hadn't been for me moving next door I would have never met all of you and I wouldn’t be here now so for me that counts as something good."  
"Well thanks Luke."  
"Anytime," he said with a smile and they walked back into the kitchen.  
"Hey Cordelia, your eggs are almost ready," said Callista, “tea or coffee?"  
"Tea's fine thanks...Misty what are you doing down here?"  
"I wanted to help y'all out with the house."  
"Are you sure Misty I mean..." at that moment the doorbell rang.  
"I'll get it," said Kyle, "were you expecting anyone Cordelia?" Cordelia shook her head.  
"No, in fact I'm not sure who'd be calling this early on a weekend."  
"Should I tell them you're busy?"  
"Find out what it is they need, if it's something important show them into the parlor and tell them I'll be there in a moment."  
"Of course,” he left the kitchen and walked down the hall. And Cordelia beckoned Misty over next to her. "Really Misty, are you sure you're up for this?” Ever since Misty had been rescued from hell, she had been plagued with nightmares and often did not get much sleep.  
"Look Cordelia, I'd seriously rather help out then thinking about where I've been."  
"Well when you put it like that..." Misty smiled but there was a weariness in her gaze.  
"Believe me Cordelia, I'd like to help out. It would help me get my mind off things."  
"Well alright then, eat up we've got a lot to do." At that moment Kyle walked back into the room. He seemed slightly shaken.  
"Hey Cordelia, I uh, there was a man at the door. I showed him into the parlor; he said he had to speak with you that it was an urgent matter." Cordelia looked at him questionably.  
"Just how urgent can it be?"  
"He said it was a matter of life and death." Something about those words as well as Kyle's demeanor made the hairs on Cordelia's neck stand up. However she chose to remain calm.  
"Life and death? Hopefully it’s not one of those Jehovah's Witnesses," said Cordelia. "Zoe, Kyle, come with me the rest of you finish your breakfast." She walked with Zoe and Kyle out into the hallway and came to a stop in front of the parlor doors. "You two, stay in front of these doors, make sure no one comes in."  
"Jesus Cordelia, what do you think this is?" Zoe looked worried.  
"Nothing hopefully, but it’s better that we be prepared."  
"You don't think it's someone from Delphi do you?"  
"No I think my mother and Marie Laveau took care of that. All the same something about this is telling me we need to be on our guard."  
"Be careful,” said Zoe. Cordelia gave her a small smile and walked into the parlor.  
The room was fairly dark with the exception of the lamps that were lit. Cordelia saw that the man had closed the drapes then she saw him, a tall bald dark skinned man standing with his back to her in front of the fireplace.  
"You know some might say that public statement you made on the existence of witchcraft a few months back took a page from Tony Stark’s playbook.” He turned towards her revealing his face, he had a stern demeanor and his left eye was covered with an eyepatch but the scars of past battles could clearly be seen beneath. Cordelia recognized him instantly.  
"I simply felt we weren't being served by secrecy anymore. Now who the hell are you and why were you following me when I was in Salem?"  
"Well you certainly get right to the point, I must say though, I expected a little more southern hospitality."  
"Normally we're very hospitable but when someone shows up before nine in the morning and starts talking about matters of life and death it does tend to put a damper on our spirits."  
"I apologize for the early hour but this actually is a matter of urgency. He paused, "can we sit down or shall I defer that to you?"  
"Be my guest," said Cordelia. "It seems you've already made yourself at home."  
"Ah the drapes," he said eyeing the curtains, "sorry about that I hope that doesn't bother you too much but I'm trying to keep a low profile which means the more privacy we have the better." They sat down facing each other. With a wave of her hand Cordelia started a fire in the fire place. While the man did look slightly impressed Cordelia noted that he seemed unshaken by her abilities.  
"You still haven't told me your name."  
"Nick Fury, former director of SHIELD. You of course need no introductions...I have to ask where did you see me in Salem? Was it outside the hotel?"  
"There and the library."  
"Damn, I'm getting rusty, guess I'm lucky it was you and not a HYDRA agent."  
"Perhaps we could move on to this urgent matter as well as an explanation of why you were following me in the first place."  
"Certainly, you are aware I'm sure about the recent collapse of SHIELD?"  
"Vaguely, sometimes it can be hard to keep up with current events but I remember there were several documents leaked online. That part was all over the news."  
"I was one of the people responsible for leaking those documents," said Fury. "SHIELD was compromised by HYDRA...a fascist terrorist organization, started during World War II," he said noting the confused expression on Cordelia's face. "They managed to get inside the organization, grow within it before we noticed. In the end we had no choice but to dismantle everything; no more SHIELD, no more HYDRA. At least, that's the way it was supposed to work."  
"What does this have to do with me or the school?"  
"HYDRA had a weapon Ms. Goode, a human weapon. He's known as the Winter Soldier to those in our line of work and we have received intelligence that he might be coming after you."  
"Why?” Cordelia not too surprised by Fury’s revelation. After all there were unfortunately still people in the world who wanted to harm witches. “I thought you said HYDRA was wiped out.”  
“Not entirely there are still some cells we are trying to find and stamp out but to be quite honest we aren’t sure HYDRA is in control here.”  
“Mr. Fury,” said Cordelia, “I appreciate your concern but we are not damsels in distress we are perfectly able to take care of ourselves.”  
“I understand that Ms. Goode but I don’t think you know what you’re up against.” Fury paused, “I’m sure you’re aware of an incident here in New Orleans several months ago. A homeless veteran walked into a beauty parlor in the Ninth ward and massacred several people.” Cordelia turned pale and Fury continued. “Something about that incident seemed suspicious to Stark and I agreed so we did a little digging. It turned out that the homeless veteran was actually Henry Renard, the son of the late Harrison Renard leader of the Delphi Trust and head of the largest organization of witch hunters in North America and many of the people massacred at the salon were practitioners of voodoo. Then again,” here Fury paused, “I think you already knew that Ms. Goode because that man was your husband.”  
Cordelia turned from Fury’s gaze and looked into the crackling flames, “Correct on all points Mr. Fury, though I’m sure your research also indicated that I didn’t know about Hank’s identity until after the shooting. We were in the process of divorcing when Hank…Henry Renard died.” Fury’s manner softened.  
“I’m sorry to bring that up but it’s the only way I can really think to describe to you how dangerous this man is. Your husband took out a lot of people that day but this guy makes him look like an amateur. He’s trained, he’s incredibly deadly, and he won’t hesitate to kill you or anyone else who happens to be in his way. You seem like a nice woman and I don’t want to see that happen.” Cordelia took a deep breath.  
“Why do you care so much about this? Don’t get me wrong but you don’t entirely seem like the type of person who does things simply out of the goodness of your heart.” Fury chuckled and gave Cordelia a look of sarcastic indignation.  
“Ms. Goode, I’m offended.” Cordelia looked at him with doubt.  
“You’re saying I’m wrong?”  
“I would like to think of myself a defender to those that need help.” There was a short moment of silence before Cordelia spoke again.  
“You never did tell me why you were following me in Salem.”  
“Simple, we needed to know who we might be aligning ourselves with.”  
“We?” Cordelia glanced at him questioningly.  
“Actually they should be arriving any moment now,” said Fury checking his watch. At that moment the doorbell rang. Cordelia heard the door opening and voices in the hallway. There was a knock at the parlor door.  
“Come in,” said Cordelia, Zoe opened up the door.  
“Cordelia, there are some people at the door that say they’re here to see you.” Zoe looked questionably at Fury. “Is everything alright?”  
“It’s fine Zoe, go ahead and send them in and tell the others that cleaning out the new house has been postponed for now.”  
“Alright” said Zoe she turned and hurried down the hall. There were footsteps and five people walked into the parlor. Nick stood up.  
“Right on time,” he said “Everyone, Cordelia Goode. Ms. Goode this is Steve Rogers, Natasha Romanov, Clint Barton, Sam Wilson and Doctor Bruce Banner.”  
“Pleasure,” said Cordelia with an anxious smile. “I hope you weren’t waiting outside for too long. Do you need something to drink?” Steve responded in a kind manner but with a trace of discomfort.  
“No, thank you, right now I think it’s more important to go over the plan for your safety, as well as that of the students.”  
“Of course,” said Cordelia. “Please won’t you all sit down?” They all took a seat on the various chairs and couches. Dr. Banner walked over towards where Cordelia was seated on the couch.  
“You don’t mind if I sit here do you?”  
“Oh, no, go ahead.” He sat down next to her and Cordelia suddenly found herself very aware of the fact she was wearing less than her best attire. When they had all taken a seat Fury began to speak.  
“I’ve explained the basic information to Ms. Goode but I figured I would let you explain the finer points Cap since this is your project after all.”  
“Sure,” said Steve turning to Cordelia. “What has Nick told you so far about the Winter Soldier?”  
“Simply that you have intelligence that he’s after me and that he’s dangerous.”  
“Correct,” said Steve, “but the Winter Soldier never acts alone; we are fairly sure someone is controlling him but we aren’t sure who.”  
“You suspect HYDRA?”  
“I see Nick really has gone over the basics with you; it’s possible and they are the most likely candidate though it might be someone else. Unfortunately even with all the intelligence we’ve managed to gather we really aren’t sure. What matters most though is that we ensure your protection.”  
“Well, what do you propose?”  
“We stay here at the school and wait for him to show up. We’ll try not to be in the way but do you happen to have a spare room or two?”  
“Actually, we have a new house next door…you can use it until this gets taken care of. I imagine the girls are safer under one roof anyway.”  
“Perfect, although Natasha will stay with you,” said Steve, “since you are the primary target we want someone with you at all times and Natasha is one of the best.”  
“Aw thanks Steve,” said Natasha wryly. Steve continued, “We will also need your permission to set up some temporary fortifications.”  
“Of course,” said Cordelia, “whatever has to be done to protect the students.”  
“Good,” said Steve, “Do you think you can handle the set up Bruce?”  
“Tony gave me all the instructions.” Clint spoke up.  
“I’ll need access to the attics of both houses. I work better from on high.”  
“Of course,” said Cordelia. “We haven’t cleaned out our attic though just to give you a heads up…”  
“It’ll be fine,” said Clint.  
“Sam and I will take turns patrolling the school and surrounding areas,” said Steve.  
“I don’t mean any offense,” said Cordelia, “you don’t think that we can take this guy on but it’s just the six of you.”  
“Not exactly,” said Fury placing a small silver device on the table. He pressed a small button on the device and a semi-transparent screen. On the screen were two men and one woman.  
“Good morning this is my audition tape for America’s Top Hero.”  
“Oh seriously Tony stop goofing around,” said the woman, “Hey Nick we’re here.”  
“Excellent, Ms. Goode meet Tony Stark, Colonel James Rhodes and Maria Hill. They will be serving as backup.”  
“Um I resent being referred to as backup,” said Tony. Maria rolled her eyes.  
“Nick, the pagers.”  
“Just getting to that, I have emergency devices for all of you.” As Nick passed them around Maria spoke from the screen.  
“If you need extra help all you need to do is push the button and Tony and Rhody should be able to fly out. You might want to test them though.”  
“We’ll do that now,” said Nick. They all pushed the buttons and on the screen there came the sound of beeping. Maria, Tony and Rhody all picked up their pagers and shut them off.  
“Looks like we’re good,” said Maria. “By the way Tony is on a plane to London tomorrow; would you like him to contact Thor while he’s there?”  
“I don’t think so Maria,” Steve said quickly. “I think we’ll be fine.”  
“Ok,” said Maria. “Do you need anything else?”  
“That will be all for now Maria thanks.”  
“Anytime Nick.” Nick pushed the button on the device and the screen closed.  
“I’ll also have a pager if you need to reach me,” said Nick.  
“You’re leaving? Cordelia asked.  
“Well like I said I need to keep a low profile,” Nick said. “Besides I have a few things to do in the meantime. In fact, I’d better be going; don’t worry I’ll show myself out.”  
“Actually I’ll walk you out Nick,” said Steve quickly and the two men walked out of the room and down the hall. Cordelia was left alone with Clint, Natasha, Sam and Bruce.  
“If you will excuse me I need to call a meeting with my students,” said Cordelia, “after that I can show you the house.” She left the parlor to call the students together.

“I still think we should have told them up front that we need their help rehabilitating him,” Steve said looking back at the house. “I know you’re used to keeping stuff hidden Nick but I’m not.” Fury looked at him with frustration.  
“Would you like to tell that nice lady we just spoke with that you’re best friends with the guy coming to kill her and her students or should I?” Steve was silent. “I didn’t think so. Don’t worry Cap we’ll get to that in time.”  
“Isn’t hiding the truth what got SHIELD into trouble?”  
“I’m not saying you should lie and I’m not saying that you shouldn’t tell her at all. I just think it would be wise to wait until she’s gotten comfortable with you being here first.” Steve felt a surge of frustration. It seemed to him whole segments of his life had been about waiting. He brushed his thumb against a small silver compass in his pocket and felt a surge of regret…the right partner. He had already lost that; he had lost so much. He was not going to lose Bucky. He nodded to Nick.  
“Fine.”  
“Later Cap. I’ll keep you posted on things. You do the same.” He got into his car and drove away down the quiet street. Steve sighed and walked back inside the house.


	2. Chapter 2

Thirty minutes later the girls were gathered in the main hall. Cordelia stood before them with Zoe, Queenie and the members of the team.  
“I have called you here because I have some bad news and I think it’s important that you know the truth,” Cordelia said, “Unfortunately, I have recently learned that our school is in danger.” There was an outbreak of whispering. “Quiet please,” said Cordelia. “I will do everything in my power to make sure none of you come to any harm and,” she said gesturing to the team, “we will have additional protection and assistance. However because of current events we will be delaying the expansion of the school. Furthermore, I would ask that every student remain on the premises until this situation is resolved. I would like to go ahead and turn things over to Captain Rogers.” There was an outbreak of excited whispers as Captain Rogers stepped forward. Many of the students were quite familiar with Captain America and the Avengers. Captain Rogers cleared his throat and the whispers settled down.  
“Good Morning, as your…Supreme has stated, I am Captain Rogers and I want to introduce the members of the team really quickly. Behind me are Sam Wilson, Natasha Romanov, Clint Barton, and Dr. Bruce Banner. We’re going to be staying here until we eliminate the threat against this school so you’ll probably be seeing a lot of us. However, I can assure you we will do our best not to get in the way of your studies and day to day activities.” He paused seemingly uncertain of what to say next. “I believe that’s all unless you have anything else to say Ms. Goode.” Cordelia stepped forward again.  
“At this point you are all dismissed. Lunch will be at 2:30 and dinner will be around 6:00. I will try to have schedules for the next few days posted tonight and I believe that is all for now. Thank you.” When she was done a cacophony of conversation rose up again from the students. She turned to the team.  
“I must say Captain Rogers I’m impressed, you definitely had were able to keep my students attention.” Steve actually managed to crack a smile.  
“In all honesty, I was actually pretty nervous. It’s been awhile since I’ve spoken in front of a crowd and I have no clue when it comes to teenage girls.”  
“I can assure you, some days I don’t either.” She noticed Dr. Banner chuckle and for a moment Steve seemed like he might laugh but he merely nodded.  
“So we should probably get everything set up.”  
“Of course,” said Cordelia. “I can take you next door right now.”

“Pardon the mess, we were supposed to clean out the place today but well…” Cordelia unlocked the door to the new house and the team followed her inside. “There’s still some furniture left from the previous owners as you can see. I can go to the hardware store today and get some extra keys made for you. In fact, I can get ready right now…unless you need to get settled in,” she said turning to Natasha.  
“I’m good to go now,” said Natasha, “I’m not exactly on vacation.”  
“Ok, I’ll just go get my purse.” Cordelia turned to leave and turned back towards the team. “By the way, would you like to have dinner with us tonight? I’m sure it would give the students a better chance to get to know you and it might make this whole thing a little more comfortable for all of us.” Steve cleared his throat.  
“That’s nice of you but…”  
“We would love to come,” Bruce interrupted smiling at Cordelia.  
“Great,” said Cordelia, “anything you’d like in particular?”  
“Whatever you fix will be fine,” said Bruce. “In fact I can help you with the cooking if you want.”  
“Count me in for that too,” said Sam, “though I have to confess up front if we are making any desserts I will lick the bowl.” Cordelia laughed.  
“I’ll keep that in mind. Just give me a few minutes Ms…?”  
“Just call me Natasha; Tell you what, I’ll go ahead with you.” The two women left and Bruce turned to Steve.  
“What is going on with you? You’ve been acting like they’re about to turn us into frogs.”  
“Well in Steve’s defense, that could be a distinct possibility,” said Clint. Steve turned to Bruce.  
“Look let’s just focus on the mission and what we need to do here.” The three men looked at him with concern and it was Sam who finally spoke.  
“Hey man, we get it. We know you’re worried about Bucky and hey, witches I mean we’re all a little weird but that’s something none of us have dealt with…but we’re here for you man.” Although Steve didn’t smile some of the tension faded from his expression.  
“Thank You…all of you.” Sam clapped him on the shoulder.  
“Well guys, you heard the Cap, let’s settle in and get to work.”

It was fifteen minutes past six when Steve knocked on the attic door.  
“Hey Clint, I’m going to dinner at the main house. You coming?”  
“Yeah I just have to set up a few things first but I’ll be there soon.”  
He heard Steve walk down the stairs and he turned and surveyed his surroundings. Although the rest of the house still had furniture, the attic with the exception of a few boxes was mainly empty. That was fine for him though, he had dealt with much rougher living situations. There was now a sleeping bag in the corner of the room along with a telescope, video monitors that he and Bruce had set up that afternoon and various bows and arrows within easy reach. However, he had wanted to wait until the evening for this part. “Ok, time to set up next door.” Clint opened the window the house was a good ten feet away but there was a window which would allow him inside “no problem.” He quickly grabbed his bow and arrow but at the end of the arrow he tied a cable. He aimed his arrow but then paused “the roof will probably be a better angle,” he thought to himself. In a matter of minutes he had climbed out the window and made his way to the roof of the house. He stood up and examined his surroundings. There seemed to be no one outside in this peaceful neighborhood but the darkness was settling in anyway so he was not likely to be seen. Once again he aimed his arrow at the window below and this time he fired. The arrow hit its target right at the window ledge. He quickly tied the remaining cable around the chimney and used the cable to slide down to the attic window of the school. The window was locked so Clint took out a small hammer and broke the pane. Reaching inside he unlocked the window and crawled into the attic. He took out a small restoration device and pointed it at the broken glass below. The glass was lifted off the floor and Clint aimed the device’s beam so it was replaced in the window. One would never know that the window had been broken. Of course, that was why SHIELD had created it. He turned around to examine the attic. What he saw made him actually exclaim out loud to the empty room, “What the Hell?”  
The attic had a bed and a table with a full china tea set laid out. Around the room, there were shelves of toys, some stuffed animals but mostly rows upon rows of porcelain dolls. Their glassy eyes stared at him and Clint shuddered. He’d always hated those things. “Well it is a girl’s school, maybe this is or was a playroom for any younger kids.” Right now though he had work to do. He had taken his bag off his shoulders and was about to begin to set up when he heard a small whimper. Now on guard, Clint glanced around for the source of the noise. The whimper sounded again it was definitely coming from the corner of the attic. He crept through the darkness and in the corner was a very ornate bassinet. Lowering his weapons and looking inside, he found himself looking into the eyes of a small baby girl. Her dark eyes widened at the sight of his face and he immediately softened. “Hey cutie, what are you doing up here all alone?” Before he could take the baby out of the crib a force suddenly pushed him across the room where he crashed onto the floor. Quickly recovering from the shock of the impact, Clint grabbed his bow and arrow and aimed looking into the darkness to find the source of the attack but he saw nothing. Suddenly a chair was lifted from the table and thrown at him. Clint narrowly managed to dodge it and roll under the bed. The bed began to levitate and slammed down on top of him. As it lifted up he shouted into his com link, “Guys, I’m in the school’s attic, I need backup now!” The bed slammed down above him again. He struggled out from underneath and began to run for the door the force pulled him back across the room and he was slammed on the ground again. As he opened his eyes, He saw the bedframe being thrown towards him. 

Below in the dining room dinner was well underway. All of the sudden there were the sounds of crashes from above. The team quickly rose from their chairs. “Excuse us ladies,” said Steve and they ran quickly from the room. Cordelia followed them concerned.  
“Girls, stay here. Zoe, Queenie, you’re in charge.”  
The dining room erupted in chaos. Queenie grabbed a book and slammed it on the table.  
“Everyone calm down! Whatever is happening Cordelia and the others will take care of it!” Zoe saw Madison coolly making her way towards the staircase.  
“Madison what the hell are you doing? Cordelia told us to stay here!” Madison turned towards Zoe.  
“Like Hell! I want to know what’s going on!” Before Zoe could utter any kind of spell to stop her she ran up the stairs Nan following her.  
“Damn it!” Before any of the other girls could try to leave Zoe uttered a spell and a barrier formed at the doorways to the room which would prevent anyone else from leaving. “Now like Queenie said, everybody calm down.” Still as she said these words she looked towards the attic with apprehension.

The team and Cordelia ran up the attic stairs and Steve kicked open the door. A bed frame was flying across the room towards Clint as they ran in. Clint managed to duck out of the way. The frame attempted to lift again but Steve grabbed in it and though the frame shook it couldn’t get free of his grip. The rest of the team held up their weapons but saw nothing in the darkness. However, Cordelia who had the gift of second sight saw Clint’s attacker.  
Spalding stood in the center of the room looking as he had in his life. A foreboding man in a suit with stringy hair. He stepped toward Cordelia.  
“What the hell are you doing?” asked Cordelia.  
“What do you mean? We’re saving Clint from whatever this is…” Steve yelled impatiently.  
Not you! It’s Spalding…our butler.” The team looked at Cordelia with discomfort.  
“Ms. Goode, with all due respect I don’t see anyone here,” said Sam sounding less shaken then he felt.  
“I believe I’m the only one who can because”…Cordelia took a deep breath, “I believe he’s dead.”  
“Why did he attack Clint?” asked Natasha. She had lowered her weapon and had now knelt beside Clint and was checking his vital signs. Spalding spoke to Cordelia.  
“Forgive me, but I believed this man to be a threat to the school. He broke a window and had weapons. It has been my duty to protect this coven…a duty that I have maintained even in death.” He stared at Cordelia and she tried to maintain her calm. Although Spalding had always been faithful to the Coven she had never liked him or trusted him that much. She had always felt he was more faithful to her mother then to the coven itself. Though it was with some guilt she realized that she had never really followed up on his disappearance. She finally spoke.  
“Well he is not a threat so if he happens to be up here again I would ask that you refrain from attacking him.”  
“Don’t worry,” Clint mumbled from the darkness. “After this crap I don’t think I’ll be up here much.” Cordelia looked back at Spalding. “Well, there you have it, if I may ask, what happened to you?” Spalding grimaced.  
“Why don’t you ask Miss Benson?”  
Fuck, thought Cordelia glad no one else in the room could hear him. “I will, do you intend to stay or is there something I can do to help your spirit pass to the afterlife?” Spalding smiled in a manner that unnerved Cordelia.  
“I have no desire for Heaven or any other realm. I don’t even have a desire for ‘justice’ in my memory if that’s what you were worried about. I am content to stay here protect the school when necessary.”  
“Ok,” said Cordelia “We’ll be leaving now.”  
“Wait,” Clint moaned from the darkness, “the baby.” A small wail came from the corner and Spalding’s face darkened.  
“She’s mine,” said Spalding “no one is taking her.” Cordelia stared him down.  
“No Spalding she is not yours and she doesn’t belong here.” Spalding gazed at her enraged.  
“After all I have done for this coven…”  
“And I offered you a chance to leave. You don’t have to stay here but I will tell you she is definitely not either.” Spalding gnashed his teeth.  
“Fine, but in return I want a favor.”  
“What is it?”  
Not yet…sometime later, when I am in need…then I’ll let you know.”  
“Agreed,” said Cordelia. She walked over to the bassinet and gently picked up the child. “Come on, she said to others. Let’s get your friend cleaned up.”

When they were out in the hallway again, Steve angrily turned on Cordelia.  
“What the hell was that?”  
“I told you already it was…”  
“Yeah the ghost of your dead former butler. How did he die? For that matter why was an infant locked up in there with him?”  
“I…I don’t know …” “  
“You’re the head of this school aren’t you supposed to know?”  
“It’s not her fault!” Everyone turned towards the end of the hall where Madison and Nan were standing.  
“Girls I told you to wait downstairs,” said Cordelia with frustration in her voice. Nan kept her eyes on Steve.  
“The baby was kidnapped by Marie Laveau. Cordelia didn’t know.”  
“And how did you?” Steve looked sternly at the girl.  
“Um, she’s clairvoyant Mr. America,” said Madison rolling her eyes. “That and we’ve both been dead too, allows for a certain level of omnipotence” Steve closed his eyes.  
“I’ve had about enough of this place,” he muttered.  
“Steve,” Natasha was holding up Clint. “Clint’s pretty bad he needs medical attention.”  
“I can help and I can get my best healing students...” Cordelia stammered. Steve glared at her.  
“I don’t think…” Clint cut him off.  
“Cap let them help,” he groaned “I will accept anything that involves me being in slightly less pain.” Steve’s expression softened.  
“Fine, Sam, Natasha, start heading downstairs with Clint.” Sam and Natasha steadied Clint between them and began to make their way slowly down the hall.  
“You girls had better go too,” said Cordelia looking pointedly at Nan and Madison. Nan looked uncomfortable at the prospect of leaving and Madison rolled her eyes but they turned and left. It was now just Steve, Bruce and Cordelia left in the hall with Cordelia holding the baby girl. Steve spoke again.  
“I need to know any and all intel you have on this Marie Laveau. Call me old fashioned but I don’t like letting kidnappers escape justice. Cordelia sighed.  
“She’s dead too.” Steve scoffed and shook his head.  
“Why am I not surprised?” There was a moment of tense silence before Steve spoke again.  
“The Child will need to be returned to…do you even know where she was taken from?”  
“No,” said Cordelia quietly. Steve stared at her with a gaze that made Cordelia feel like an errant child.  
“You know for a witch who’s supposed to be Supreme you sure don’t seem to know a lot about what’s going on under your roof.”  
“Steve,” Bruce interrupted, “Let’s all calm down here.” He gave Cordelia a sympathetic glance. “I’ll do a quick check on the baby…see if she’s ok. Natasha can take her to a hospital, police station, fire department drop her off. I can stay with Ms. Goode while she’s gone.” He turned towards Cordelia, if that’s ok with you of course.  
“Of course,” said Cordelia. Steve took a deep breath.  
“I’ll let Natasha know the plan.” He turned and walked down the hall.  
“Here,” said Cordelia handing the baby to Bruce. “Let me know how she is and I’ll help out with umm…”  
“Clint,” Bruce.  
“Right,” said Cordelia, “Sorry still getting used to all the names.” She turned and walked down the hall Bruce following behind her.


	3. Chapter 3

A few hours later after Clint had been healed and things had settled down in the house, Cordelia sat in her bedroom feeling extremely dejected. There was a knock at the door. She turned to find Bruce in the doorway holding the baby. “Is Natasha here?”  
“I think she’s helping Clint back over to the other house…she seemed pretty worried about him and I told her to go ahead. I…well, I still think I can take care of myself.” She paused, “How’s the baby?”  
“Oh I checked her out she’s great. Healthy, no issues. That ghost of yours did a pretty good job…which is a sentence I really never thought I’d say.” He smiled at Cordelia as he walked into the room and sat on the chair across from the bed. “Hey, I’m sorry about Steve…he’s a good guy but he’s…” he paused as though deciding what to say next, “let’s just say he’s been under a lot of stress lately. He shouldn’t have chewed you out like that.” Cordelia shook her head.  
“He’s right though, I should have known…about everything.” She sighed “I’m just feeling really damn incompetent right now.” Bruce shifted the baby in his arms and reached out a hand comfortingly.  
“Hey, take it easy. From what I can tell you are doing the best you can.”  
“None of that matters if I can’t protect my girls…well my girls and Kyle and Luke.” She smiled for a brief moment but her face turned grave again. “How can I lead or protect anyone if I can’t see what’s right in front of me?” Bruce looked at her intently.  
“Did Nick tell you about HYDRA infiltrating SHIELD?” Cordelia nodded.  
“He mentioned it.”  
“Then you should know that you’re not the only one who’s not seen something coming. All we can do when stuff like this happens is learn from it, be better next time and focus on the good stuff.”  
“What should I focus on then Doctor?” asked Cordelia gazing back at him.  
“Call me Bruce, and in your case, focus on the fact that this baby is healthy and is probably going to be back with her family within the week, that your students are safe and seem to care for you as much as you do for them, and that when it comes to protecting them you’re not alone because we’re here to help.” Cordelia smiled and her body relaxed.  
“Thank You Bruce.”  
“Anytime Cor…is it ok if I call you Cordelia?”  
“Of course, I would like that very much.” It was at that moment Natasha entered the room.  
“Clint’s settled in so I can take the baby now. I shouldn’t be gone too long.”  
“Thank you” said Cordelia “and I’m sorry about Clint is he feeling better?”  
“He will be with a good night’s sleep. Normally something like that would take him a few days to recover from but thanks to you and your students…well I have to say I’m impressed.” She took the baby from Bruce. “Like I said this shouldn’t take me too long.”  
“No problem Natasha, just stay safe and out of sight.”  
“You got it.” She walked out of the room with the baby. Bruce looked at Cordelia as she gazed after her.  
“Did you…did you ever want kids?” He immediately blushed. “I’m sorry, I realize that’s personal none of my business…”  
“It’s alright,” said Cordelia, she paused before answering. “I wanted children. Hank and I were trying before…”she bit her lip. We couldn’t…I couldn’t but considering how things ended maybe it was for the best. Besides,” she said more stoically, “I suppose my students are my children now in a way.” She gave Bruce a small smile. “What about you?” Bruce glanced down at his hands.  
“I’m not sure I can either…have kids that is. Even if I could I’m not sure I should because of what I am.”  
“What are you talking about? You’re one of the world’s most brilliant scientists. There’s probably women who would pay to have you as the father of their children.” Bruce gave a small laugh but Cordelia saw a troubled look in his eyes.  
“Well it’s more complicated than that…” his voice trailed off “would it be ok if we changed the subject?”  
“Of course, I’m sorry if…”  
“God no, I was the one who brought up the whole kids question in the first place.” Bruce seemed to relax, “so, you’ve heard of my work.”  
“Well we may be a school of magic but we are big believers in science as well.”  
“Yeah actually a friend of mine, Thor, he’s…well we were talking once about so much of what humans thought was magic actually had scientific explanations and how magic and science could be two sides of the same coin. Although I must say, I’m not sure I have any scientific explanation for you or your students.” Cordelia smiled.  
“Well, if it makes you feel better we can’t really explain our abilities either. We have them. They’re a part of us. Sometimes students have them from a young age, other cases the magical abilities develop later on. It tends to run in families so it probably has something to do with genetics but…”she paused, “I can’t really tell you why some girls have healing abilities and other girls are better at pyrokenisis or concilium and I’m not even completely sure how or why I was able to become the Supreme.”  
“Well you performed the Seven Wonders and wasn’t your mom the Supreme before you?” Cordelia laughed.  
“Ok this is a little creepy you know more about me then I do about you.”  
“Yeah, Nick had a file that he had us all study up on before we met you” Bruce said sheepishly, “of course I must say, I much prefer…this.”  
“The art of conversation you mean?”  
“Yeah, just sitting and talking with a pretty incredible woman.” He gazed at her intently and Cordelia found herself blushing.  
“I’m just doing my job.”  
“No, see…a lot of us...I mean what our team does…”  
“You mean helping us poor damsels in distress?” asked Cordelia teasingly. It was Bruce’s turn to chuckle.  
“I would definitely not call you a damsel in distress, especially not after what happened tonight…but what our team does we fight bad guys, try to save people, and I guess we do a pretty good job but…” Bruce paused for moment as if trying to decide what to say next, “it takes someone pretty special to do what you do. Run a school, I mean. You teach kids, help them figure out who they are, what they want to be… I mean we try to help make the world better but its people like you who really change it in the long run.” Cordelia grinned.  
“Well that is probably the best compliment I’ve ever had from anyone.”  
“You’re kidding, you mean people don’t just give you compliments and tell you what an amazing Supreme you are all the time?” Cordelia laughed.  
“God, no! For one, I haven’t been Supreme that long and two I’m not sure I could handle that many compliments, it might go to my head.”  
“I think you could handle it.”  
“Thanks,” Cordelia looked at Bruce with a soft smile. “I…do you want anything? Glass of wine maybe?”  
“No, Natasha shouldn’t be that long. Besides technically I’m ‘on duty’ as you might say so I probably shouldn’t be drinking.”  
“Right,” said Cordelia feeling slightly disappointed. “I almost forgot about the danger.”  
“Hopefully it won’t be for long,” Bruce said quietly. They were silent for a moment both uncertain of what to say. Finally Bruce cleared his throat.  
“So your mother was the Supreme before you…what was she like?” Cordelia sighed  
“She was…complicated… To be honest we never really got along. The second I was old enough she left me here at Miss Robichaux’s and I didn’t really see her much after that. She would show up every few years just to open some old wound. Actually the most time we spent together was last year before she died.” She paused and took a breath realizing that she had never really talked about her relationship with Fiona this much to anyone in quite a while. “To be honest we were both surprised when I turned out to be the Supreme…” Bruce interrupted.  
“It doesn’t, sorry to interrupt…being Supreme doesn’t run in a family?”  
“Not really,” said Cordelia, “Actually the title passing from my mother to me is, in the context of our history, fairly unusual. In many cases the reigning Supreme will recognize and name her successor, though of course only successfully performing The Seven Wonders can guarantee her place,” she sighed. “My mother of course never named her successor, in fact she was too interested in eliminating the competition so when it came down to it all of us that there were had to perform it.” She paused with some emotion. She still deeply regretted forcing the girls to perform The Seven Wonders. Especially Misty… She looked at Bruce sadly, “I suppose we finally made a peace of sorts before she died but it’s still difficult…I haven’t really talked to anyone about until right now.” Bruce’s gaze was filled with empathy.  
“I know something about that…trouble with a parent I mean.”  
“Of course,” said Cordelia with a sudden realization. Bruce himself had a tragic childhood, she had read and heard limited details before in the articles and news stories about him.  
“My father never wanted me, in fact he hated me.” He looked down at his hands, “He was an alcoholic but he would beat me whether he was drunk or not. My mother tried to protect me but he…” His voice trailed off and there was pain in his eyes. “One night she tried to leave with me but he caught us.” He took a ragged breath, “I watched him kill her.” Cordelia took his hand in hers comfortingly.  
“I’m so sorry,” she whispered. “I can’t imagine what that must have been like.” Bruce continued his voice numb.  
“The worst part of all of it was they called me as a witness at the trial but I lied…My mom gave her life for me and I sat there on the stand and I said nothing happened…” He couldn’t finish the sentence and Cordelia thought she saw tears in his eyes.  
“He was…your father…he was arrested though wasn’t he?” Bruce nodded.  
“Yeah, a whole bar full of people overheard him bragging about how he beat his conviction by getting me to lie… He ended up getting put in a mental institution and I went to live with my Aunt Susan after that.”  
“Bruce look at me.” Bruce looked up at Cordelia’s face and Cordelia looked back at him intently. “Surely you know that none of that was your fault.”  
“People have told me that but it’s still hard to believe some days.”  
“You were a child, the same way that I was when my mom dumped me here…and I know what it’s like to think something’s your fault because for years I wondered why I was never good enough for her. It took me a long time to finally realize that it wasn’t me it was her. Cordelia paused, “Whatever your father felt about you, however he hurt you, it was because of something in him. It had nothing to do with you. I know it couldn’t have because…all I see in front of me is really good guy.” She blushed deeply but if Bruce noticed this he didn’t make any indication of it.  
“Thank you” he said softly. He squeezed her hand. “It’s strange,” he said I don’t... I haven’t talked about this much at all to anyone…but somehow I feel I can tell you anything. You haven’t put some kind of spell on me have you?” He actually managed to crack a small smile which relieved Cordelia.  
“No,” she said with a small laugh “I guess we just have a lot in common.”  
“Yeah, I guess we do.” The look in his eyes, was it gratitude? Friendship? Or was it possibly something more?”  
“I don’t know about you but I could definitely use a cup of tea before bed. Would you be interested?”  
“Yeah, that sounds nice actually.” They walked down to the kitchen and Cordelia fixed them two cups of chamomile tea. As they drank they chatted about lighter subjects. Cordelia talked about her students as well as the day to day tasks of running the school and Bruce talked about his latest work and his friendship with Tony Stark (as well as Stark’s various antics in and out of the lab). They had such an easy time chatting they didn’t notice the passage of time or for that matter when Natasha finally came in.  
“Are you both still up?”  
“Hi Nat...” Bruce looked flustered. “I assume everything went ok?”  
“Oh yeah, I dropped the kid off at a fire station. I stuck around for a little bit just to make sure they got her in. I think they were going to take her over to St. Ignatius…” She stopped and looked from Bruce to Cordelia and back again. “I didn’t interrupt anything did I?”  
“Oh no,” said Cordelia, “Bruce and I were enjoying a cup of tea while we waited for you.” She suddenly caught sight of the kitchen clock. “Wow! I didn’t realize how late it was…I suppose I should head up to bed…” Bruce stood up.  
“Goodnight Cordelia, thanks for the tea.”  
“It was no trouble, believe me.” She turned to Natasha, “I’ll be in my room. Did you need anything set up for you a cot or…?”  
“Oh no I’ve got my stuff up there. There’s a sleeping bag. I’ll be fine.”  
“Alright then, thank you for…helping us. Both of you.”  
“No problem,” said Natasha. Bruce merely nodded.  
“Well, goodnight.” After Cordelia left the room Natasha turned to Bruce with a knowing smile.  
“So…it’s Cordelia now.” Bruce looked embarrassed.  
“I was just being friendly…keeping her company.”  
“Sure…” said Natasha teasingly “although from the way you guys were looking at each other I think she’d rather have you up in her room tonight instead of me.”  
“Nat!” Bruce looked annoyed. “There’s no…It couldn’t last.”  
“Why? You seem to like each other and you’ve had things under control lately.”  
“When we finish this we’ll just have to leave.”  
“Yeah and it would be so hard for you to catch a plane here every once in a while like a normal person.”  
“I’m not a normal person.”  
“Neither is she, in fact in case it’s escaped your attention no one on this team is normal, well maybe except Sam…and even he has an unhealthy attachment to that drone of his.” Bruce looked at her with exasperation.  
“Even if I wanted to pursue anything, it just wouldn’t work Natasha. Do the math.” Natasha rolled her eyes in frustration. Bruce took the two cups now empty and put them in the sink. “I’m probably going to go ahead and get some sleep.”  
“You know Bruce, you may be one of the world’s most brilliant physicists but I think you’ve got your math wrong on this one.” Natasha turned and headed for the stairs leaving Bruce pondering in the kitchen before he finally left for the house next door and for what would be a rather restless night.


	4. Chapter 4

The following morning Cordelia was having a cup of tea in the kitchen. Most of the girls weren’t awake yet and Cordelia always appreciated these quiet hours. Natasha sat across the table drinking a cup of black coffee and reading a newspaper. As Cordelia glanced over at her, she wondered when or even if this woman slept the previous night. She had been awake when Cordelia went to sleep and when she had woken up. Having someone watching her night and day, even though it was for her own safety, was awkward to say the least. It was at the moment she was considering these thoughts that Steve walked into the kitchen.  
“Morning Steve,” Natasha said not even looking up from the paper.  
“Morning Natasha, Good Morning Ms. Goode,” Steve replied uncomfortably.  
“Good Morning Captain Rogers,” said Cordelia with as much civility as she could muster. However, even with her attempt at control there was still a slight chill in her tone. Steve must have heard it because he sighed and turned towards her.  
“Ms. Goode, I would like to apologize to you for my rudeness. I was out of line and I hope you can forgive me and that we can put last night’s situation behind us.”  
“Of course Captain,” said Cordelia politely.  
“Well…” Steve seemed uncertain of what to say next, “I’ll be outside if anyone needs me.” He left the kitchen and Cordelia watched him make his way out to the hall. She sighed realizing that she had been extremely tense from the moment he had walked in.  
“Ugh, finally. I told Rogers he should apologize last night.” Natasha put aside the newspaper on the table and looked Cordelia in the eye. “I promise, most of the time he really isn’t like this.”  
Cordelia gave her a small smile.  
“I just want to say again, I’m really sorry about your friend…Clint’s injuries.”  
“Oh trust me Clint and I have been through a lot worse though I must say, getting attacked by a ghost is a new one, even for us.”  
“Yeah,” Cordelia paused for a moment. “Could I ask a question? You don’t have to answer if you don’t want to.”  
“Ask away.”  
“You and Clint? Are you…?” Natasha smiled slyly.  
“Yeah, we go back a long way. Clint was the one who originally recruited me for SHIELD. Long story there… We’ve been on and off over the years but for the past few it’s been pretty steady. Now you have to answer a question for me.”  
“Ok,” said Cordelia cautiously taking a sip of tea. Natasha leaned forward conspiratorially.  
“Woman to woman; what’s the deal with you and Banner because there seemed to some chemistry between you two when I came in last night.”  
“Oh my God,” said Cordelia laughing though she felt a level of heat rising in her cheeks and she prayed she wasn’t blushing as strongly as she felt she might be. After she took a sip of tea she replied. “Bruce and I…had a very nice conversation; he seems like a really good guy.”  
“He is,” said Natasha giving Cordelia an encouraging smile. “He likes you too, I can tell. Of course he might be a little stubborn about acting on it. He’s kind of weird about the whole idea of relationships.”  
“It’s certainly understandable.” Natasha’s eyes widened slightly.  
“What do you mean? Did he tell you…?”  
“We talked about what happened with his parents if that’s what you mean.”  
“Oh…” Natasha’s voice trailed off and Cordelia examined her curiously.  
“Is there something else?”  
“Nothing, I can get into...It would be better if Bruce talked to you about it himself.” She took a sip of coffee and sat back in her chair, “I think the best way to say it is he’s insecure about…certain qualities.”  
“Well considering my late husband was secretly a witch hunter I’m sure I would be able to tolerate whatever these qualities are.”  
“Maybe you should tell him that. He might listen to you. He sure doesn’t seem to listen to me. At least not when it comes to dating.”  
“So you’re a spy and a matchmaker?” Cordelia couldn’t help but give a small smirk which Natasha returned.  
“Only when it’s needed,” she replied irreverently. The two women chuckled. Suddenly Bruce’s voice came over Natasha’s transmitter.  
“Hey Nat is there any coffee over there?”  
“Oh no man…I think I just drank the last cup,” Natasha walked over to the still partially full coffee pot and poured it into another cup which she immediately took a sip from. “To be honest I think it had to have been decaf anyway because I can’t keep my eyes open.”  
“Well that’s a disappointment.”  
“Maybe you could pick some up,” said Natasha, “take Goode with you so I can get a little extra sleep and before you say anything she thinks it’s a great idea…and she’s here with me.” There was silence over the transmitter and then Bruce spoke up.  
“So…Cordelia…would you want to go out and get coffee? Assuming that you are in fact there?” Natasha slid the transmitter across the table to Cordelia.  
“Just hold down the red button.” Cordelia pressed the button with a smile.  
“I’d like that very much Bruce. I just need to get dressed; give me thirty minutes or so?”  
“Ok, I will see you then…um over and out.” Cordelia handed the transmitter back to Natasha.  
“You are…certainly determined,” she said with a laugh.  
“My middle name,” said Natasha finishing off the first coffee cup and taking another swig from the second. “Go, get dressed, pick out something sexy.”

Cordelia was sitting outside on the porch when Bruce finally met her.  
“I was beginning to wonder if you had changed your mind on the coffee,” she said standing up and walking towards him.  
“Oh no, just wanted to clean up a bit,” he looked at her bashfully, “you look nice.”  
“Thanks,” Cordelia gave him a smile. “So shall we be going? We’ll take my car.”  
“Really? We’re not going to teleport or something?” Cordelia laughed.  
“Some witches including myself do have the power of transmutation but it doesn’t really work well over long distances.”  
“Well that’s a bit of a rip off,” said Bruce with a smile. Cordelia raised an eyebrow.  
“Well strictly speaking I’m not sure if your mortal frame could handle it…it can cause some ill effects for those that don’t have magical abilities or that aren’t experienced with it.” Bruce chuckled.  
“Touché, the car will be fine.”  
“Excellent, you don’t have some weird macho thing about having to drive do you?”  
“Oh no,” Bruce held up his hands, “your car, your rules.” Cordelia smiled with approval.  
“Good.” After a brief drive they made their way to a shopping center where the first thing they did was grab a cup of coffee for Bruce from an in-store coffee shop. When Bruce went to pay Cordelia stopped him. “I’ll get it.”  
“Oh no, I can…”  
“Please, it’s my treat.” Cordelia smiled at him reassuringly. “It’s the least I can do.”  
Bruce looked as though he wanted to resist but instead he simply said “Thank you.”  
“No trouble.” They walked to the end of the bar to wait for the drink.  
“So I was thinking while we were here we could go ahead and grab some extra groceries for the school and your team of course.” She turned to Bruce but paused at the troubled expression on his face.  
“Cordelia…”  
“Your coffee sir,” the barista handed him his order.  
“Thanks.” They walked away from the stand and Bruce began to speak again.  
“Cordelia, please, I really like you but…” he paused attempting to collect his thoughts, “I’m just scared that things wouldn’t work between us.” Cordelia nodded feeling her heart sink.  
“I think I understand.”  
“Really?” Bruce looked at her uncertainly.  
“Yeah,” Cordelia smiled sympathetically, “I understand how hard it can be to trust…I mean with what you went through with your parents and me with my mom and ex-husband…” her voice trailed off. “Not to mention I’m sure when you catch this guy you’ll have to leave anyway.” Bruce nodded.  
“Yeah it’s a lot of those things.”  
“I respect that,” Cordelia tried to remain composed, “However, I really do like your company and it may sound clichéd or like I’m just…” she shrugged “but I’d still really like to be your friend. At least while you’re here.” Bruce took a deep breath.  
“Ok.”  
“Ok, then.” Cordelia grabbed a shopping cart and the two of them began to make their way through the store chatting as they went.

“Well this should hold us for a while.” Cordelia packed the last bag into the car.  
“Don’t be so sure,” said Bruce closing the trunk. “The way that Sam, Clint, and Natasha devour everything we may be back here in a week.”  
“Well with my school of teenagers, that probably cuts us down to three days.” They both laughed as they got in the car. Cordelia turned the keys in the ignition and was just about to back out of the space when suddenly Bruce spoke.  
“Wait.”  
“What? Was there something else you needed to get?”  
“No nothing like that.” Bruce looked nervous. “I want to tell you…what I said in the store about why we wouldn’t work…well my parents, us leaving when the job’s done, that’s only part of it. If it was just that maybe we could…but.” He swallowed, “There are things about me…one thing in particular that make it pretty much impossible for me to be normal.” He was silent for a moment as if trying to find the right words to say. “Do you remember The Battle of New York?”  
“Who doesn’t?” Cordelia looked at him quizzically.  
“I was there.”  
“Really? I didn’t see you of course from what I saw on TV it was pretty chaotic so…”  
“Do you remember the Hulk?”  
“The Green Guy? He’s pretty tough to forget.” Bruce looked at her intently.  
“I’m him.” Cordelia looked at him with disbelief. After what seemed like an eternity she finally spoke.  
“How?” Bruce sighed.  
“Several years ago I was working on a project for the military. It was meant to make humans immune to gamma radiation but was part of a larger effort to recreate the super soldier program of World War II.”  
“You mean the one that created Captain Rogers?”  
“Correct, well…the experiment failed. I was exposed to the radiation which as Tony has reminded me should have killed me but instead I became him…” he looked at her sadly, “I’ve learned to control it somewhat, but there’s no cure and the idea of having him come out at the wrong time…not to mention I can’t risk passing it down to anyone.” He looked at the floorboards of the car.  
“So you think you need to be alone.”  
“I don’t think it Cordelia, I know it,” he turned back towards her. “I’m not safe. Being part of The Avengers at least lets me do some good and even then I’m not sure it outweighs the damage I cause.” The silence in the car after he had said this was palpable but finally Cordelia spoke.  
“Maybe there’s something I could do to help.”  
“That’s nice of you but I doubt it…”  
“Well, I’d like to try at least. I can’t promise I can cure you but maybe at the very least I could see if there are any spells that could help you keep things in check.” Cordelia looked at Bruce intently. “As long as you and your team are here, we might as well use the time and figure out if there is anything that can be done.” Bruce nodded.  
“Ok, then.”  
“Ok,” said Cordelia giving him a small smile. She was relieved to see that Bruce give her one in return. “Well,” she said, “let’s head back before the food goes bad.” Bruce gave a small chuckle.  
“Good idea.” Cordelia put the car in reverse and they began the drive back to the school.


	5. Chapter 5

Over the next few weeks the students had seemingly managed to settle into routine and there were not as many whispers and glances at the new visitors. The main concern, particularly among older students, had become when the whole situation would be over and everyone could recommence off campus trips. After all there was only so much that could be done around the school. Between the lack of space and the boredom of being cooped up, everyone was beginning to feel a little stir crazy.  
It was on a Saturday afternoon that Queenie and Madison were attempting to relax in their room for lack of anything else to do when Nan walked in with Luke.  
“I need to talk you, it’s important.”  
“Sure,” said Queenie looking at her with concern “what’s up girl?” Nan shook her head.  
“Not yet, not till everyone’s in here.”  
“Are you seriously thinking of trying to cram the whole school into our bedroom because I’m really not into the idea,” said Madison not even looking up from her iPhone. Nan gave her an annoyed look.  
“Not ‘everyone.’ Zoe, Kyle, Misty, and the twins.”  
“Well as long as this doesn’t take all day…” said Madison. Queenie rolled her eyes.  
“Oh please like we have anything better to do” Queenie tossed aside the magazine she had been reading. It was after this moment that Misty, Catherine and Callista walked in.  
“Hey what’s going on?” asked Callista.  
“Right now waiting for Zoe and Kyle,” said Queenie. “What have you been doing today?” Callista gave her a grin.  
“Introducing this girl to ‘Doctor Who,’ the greatest sci-fi show of all time” she said nodding towards Misty.  
“I like it,” said Misty as she sat on Queenie’s bed. “I wish I had one of those TARDIS things just think of all the concerts we could go back and watch…”  
“Like Jimi Hendrix at Woodstock!” Callista’s eyes shone excitedly.  
“Well Woodstock you have to do all three days,” said Catherine with a smile at her sister.  
“Then we would have to see Stevie of course!”  
“Solo or with Fleetwood Mac?”  
“You have to have both.” Madison rolled her eyes.  
“My God, you guys are such nerds.”  
“Just what is your deal?” said Callista looking at Madison with exasperation.  
“Ignore her,” said Queenie, “she’s just pissed ‘cause you’re not talking about a show that she’s been on.” Madison turned towards Queenie.  
“Ok, seriously…not cool.”  
“Stop acting like a grumpy bitch then.” It was then Zoe and Kyle walked in.  
“Sorry it took us awhile to get here.”  
“That’s ok, shut the door though,” said Nan.  
“Ok.” Zoe’s gave Nan a questioning glance but she shut the door and she and Kyle sat on the floor. “So what’s going on?”  
“Well,” said Luke uncertainly, “Nan has a bad feeling about Captain Rogers.” Nan huffed in frustration obviously unhappy with his hesitation.  
“I’ve been feeling it for weeks…I felt it in the hall that first night they were here. I’ve felt it every time I’ve been near him. He’s hiding something. I’m sure of it.”  
“Nan,” said Catherine gently, “this is Captain America we’re talking about. The guy is a legend...and we’re all a little on edge from being stuck here. Are you sure this isn’t just paranoia?”  
“I’m sure,” said Nan emphatically.  
“I believe her, Nan hasn’t been wrong before.” Queenie’s brow furrowed. “What could he be hiding though?”  
“You don’t think he’s some kind of a witch hunter do you?” Zoe glanced at the others apprehensively.  
“He definitely doesn’t seem to like witches very much,” said Madison with a scoff.  
“He’s been here for weeks though,” said Catherine “obviously he and the rest of his team have had enough time to do something and they haven’t. Why put together this whole production about protecting us if they just had a secret plan to kill all of us? Or if they did want to kill us, why wait so long to make a move? It doesn’t make sense.”  
“What if this whole thing is to get information though sis? I mean think about it SHIELD got wiped out but they’re still active and working together. Maybe they want to get some kind of intel on us.”  
“For what?”  
“I don’t know; maybe they want to recruit students from the school to work with them…or…” Callista paused, “maybe they want to find some kind of sensitive information to blackmail all of us into helping them with stuff.”  
“Well if that’s the case then we’re screwed because quite a few people in this room definitely have some skeletons in the closet,” said Madison. Queenie sighed.  
“So how do we do this?”  
“I have to get close to the Captain or…” Nan paused “sometimes I can get something off an object. I might have to do that because he doesn’t seem to want to be around me.  
“Ok then,” said Queenie “so we need to get you to his stuff which is in the other house…and we have to distract everyone or at the very least keep them out of the way.” Madison rolled her eyes.  
“Great let’s just put concilium on all of them. Meeting over?”  
“If we are wrong…I’m not saying we are,” said Queenie with a quick glance at Nan, “but if we are Cordelia would have a fit. Besides, with the stuff they do for all we know they’re prepared for any form of mind control we’d throw at them.”  
“Well in that case I could take the Captain,” said Madison with an evil grin. “I for one am curious about whether that super serum affected things below the waist.” The others looked at her with disgust.  
“You are nasty,” said Queenie shaking her head. Zoe looked at Madison with incredulity.  
“You do realize that he may look young but he’s old enough to be a grandfather to any of us?”  
“So? He still looks hot.” Queenie shook her head  
“I for one do not need to have images of you boning Captain America in my head…Just, no…”  
“You should take him sis,” Callista turned to face Catherine. You’ve always been a fan, and you’ve always been great with history…” Madison rolled her eyes.  
“Oh sure, don’t let me show the guy a good time; sic the Olson twins on him instead.” Callista rolled her eyes but continued talking.”  
“You could say you want to interview him…that you’re putting together a newsletter for the school to give everyone something to read while they’re stuck here.”  
“I guess…” Catherine looked nervous, “I don’t know I’ve never been good at lying.”  
“No, you’re not lying. Don’t think of it as lying. You’re just keeping him preoccupied.” Catherine sighed.  
“Fine I’ll ‘keep him preoccupied’ then.”  
“And, I will take the archer guy,” said Callista. Who knows maybe he can give me a few pointers so I can beat you next time we go to an archery range.” She looked at Catherine mischievously.  
“Good,” said Queenie. Now who else is taking who?  
“Kyle and I can take Sam,” said Luke. “We can say we’re helping him with patrols which we kind of have been doing anyway.”  
“Good, What about Dr. Banner?”  
“Oh I think Cordelia can actually keep Dr. Banner occupied for us,” Madison sneered at the confused faces of the others. “Oh come on, it’s so obvious those two have the hots for each other. I can’t believe they haven’t boned by now.”  
“Well I’ll keep an eye on Dr. Banner and Cordelia make sure that they are out of the way at least,” said Zoe.  
“Great, then I’ll go with Nan help her search through the guy’s belongings and Misty and Madison can take Natasha.” Madison gave Queenie a scathing look.  
“Really? I have more experience at getting a guy’s attention then all of you combined.”  
“Oh trust me, we know,” said Queenie. “Frankly though for the sake of the mental health of everyone in this room I think it’s better if you don’t talk to any member of that team that has a dick.”  
“Fine,” said Madison, “your loss.” Queenie ignored her.  
“Ok, let’s do this.”

As Catherine approached Steve she felt as though her stomach was tied in a giant knot. She wasn’t certain about where her nervousness was coming from. The guy was definitely a national hero and she had grown up hearing stories about him. Of course the potential of lying to said national hero probably had something to do with her anxiety as well. She took a deep breath, I’m not lying I’m just keeping him preoccupied she thought to herself. She hastened her step and cleared her throat.  
“Captain Rogers, Sir?” He turned towards her. His expression wasn’t particularly friendly but it wasn’t unkind either.  
“Yes?”  
“Hi,” she tried to give him a smile, “I’m Catherine…Catherine Whitmore. Umm…I’m a huge fan of yours.”  
“Thanks,” said Steve in a tone that seemed perplexed but remained polite.  
“Yeah,” crap don’t blow this Catherine. She took another deep breath and continued. “I don’t want to bother you but I do have a small favor to ask.”  
“What is it that you need?”  
“Well, um…as you know a lot of the girls have been feeling very bored lately, cooped up and all so some of us…I…well we were thinking of starting a school newsletter…to give people something to occupy their time and I was thinking that you could be our first cover story.”  
“I didn’t think anyone in your generation still read papers.” Catherine let out a small laugh.  
“Well, I guess it’s more of an online journal thing…” she looked at Steve pleadingly “Will you do it?”  
“Sure,” he said after a long pause. I can’t do it now maybe tomorrow, around two?”  
“That would be great! Thanks! Until tomorrow at two…see you then!” She left Steve still feeling a little nervous but mainly a sense of accomplishment.

It was almost dinner time and Catherine approached Queenie as the girls were lining up for dinner. “He’s meeting me tomorrow at two o’clock. I’ve already told Callie and Misty. Callie got Clint to agree to an archery lesson so that’s two down.”  
“Alright, I’ll let the others know, how long do you think you can keep him?” Catherine bit her lip.  
“I’ll try to keep it going as long as I can but I would still advise you and Nan to be as quick as possible.”  
“You just worry about your part of the job ‘k?” Catherine nodded.  
“Whatever you say.” She followed the other students into the dining hall. After Queenie had gotten a plate she took a seat between Zoe and Nan.  
“It’s on tomorrow at two. Zoe, you think you can keep Bruce and Cordelia occupied?” Zoe nodded.  
“I’ll make sure they’re out of the way and I’ll let Kyle know to distract Sam.”  
“And I’ll tell Luke,” said Nan.  
“Catherine’s already talked to Callista and Misty so I just need to talk to Madison.” Queenie eyed both Zoe and Nan. “Remember guys, two o clock let’s not fuck this up.”


	6. Chapter 6

As it turned out elements of the plan were falling perfectly into place. Zoe found that Cordelia and Bruce were going to be working in Cordelia’s lab for most of the day and that Natasha planned to sleep and maybe go for a jog.  
“So that’s two down and we already know Sam, Cap, and Hawkeye will be distracted…we might just pull this off,” said Queenie when Zoe told her the news.  
“I might help you and Nan look in the house then. Misty said she’d make sure Cordelia and Bruce stay in here and Madison has offered to be a lookout.” Queenie looked at Zoe with disbelief.  
“Madison Montgomery still offered to help? Willingly?” Zoe smirked.  
“Don’t get too excited; it’s code for she’ll be sun tanning in a bikini on the lawn.” Queenie rolled her eyes.  
“Still it’s something.”  
While Zoe and Queenie may have been assured though, Catherine certainly wasn’t.  
“Ugh, I wish I could have gone to Church this morning,” she confessed to her sister and Misty. “I haven’t been ever since this thing started and I’m still feeling super uncomfortable about this whole thing.”  
“I told you sis, you’re just…”  
“Keeping him pre-occupied I know…” Catherine cut her off. “Still though, aside from the fact it’s Captain America, I mean…you know the Quaker tenants say one should tell the truth at all times.”  
“See this is why I prefer a 'more spiritual then religious' approach myself…don’t get me wrong I can see why you picked the Quakers, but me I want to be able to lie or punch someone if I need to.”  
“You two weren’t raised in the same church?”  
“No, our parents encouraged us to read about all the religions and let us choose on our own which way to go,” said Callista. Misty sat next to Catherine and put a hand on her shoulder comfortingly.  
“Look, the way I see it, we’re doing this for the school, for Cordelia. Worst case we’re wrong and maybe you go ahead write somethin’ about the guy and it’s over and done with. No harm done. If Nan’s right though, if he’s hiding somethin’…well I don’t see the harm in protectin’ ourselves.”  
Even with this reassurance Catherine still found herself feeling nervous at two o clock. She was sitting on the school’s front porch when she finally saw Steve. She managed a smile.  
“Hi Captain Rogers, ready for the interview?”  
“Ready when you are.”  
“Great…I’m just trying to figure out where we can have some quiet…”  
“If you need to we can go the parlor in the other house.”  
“No!” Catherine said this a little too sharply and Steve raised his eyebrows. “I mean…” she said quickly attempting to recover, “why don’t we sit up on the balcony? It’s a beautiful day and we could have some iced tea.”  
“Ok, sounds good.” Steve stood aside “Ladies first.”  
“Thanks” Catherine led Steve through the house and into the kitchen to grab the iced tea catching Queenie’s eye as she made her way through the hall. As soon as Catherine and Steve were in the kitchen Queenie turned to Zoe, and Nan  
“Let’s do this.”  
“Wait, I can’t transmute,” said Nan. Queenie sighed.  
“I guess we’ll just have to make a run for it.” The girls dashed across the lawn to the other house. Once they were inside they shut the door quietly.  
“Lucky they didn’t lock the door…” Queenie looked around at the entryway. “So where do you think they sleep?” Nan stood quietly for a minute and then pointed towards the living room.  
“Let’s search in there.” The three of them walked into the living room and began to search through various duffle bags and boxes around the room.

Meanwhile, Steve and Catherine had made their way to the balcony with a pitcher of sweet tea and two glasses. After she poured them each a glass Catherine took out a notebook and opened it to a page with a list of questions. She also pulled out her iPhone.  
“You don’t mind if I use my phone to record this do you?”  
“That’s fine, just let me know when you are ready.”  
“Ok…we are set,” Catherine pressed the record button and sat back in the chair. “So let’s start with the beginning, what was your childhood in Brooklyn like—family, friends, etc.?”  
“Well, as you probably know, I never really got to know my father. He was killed in the First World War—mustard gas so I was mainly raised by my mother.” He smiled at the memory. Her name was Sarah. She was a nurse, had to work a lot but she really did all she could to take care of me…I was sick a lot before the serum, especially as a kid. She always tried to encourage me though. Never let me feel too sorry for myself. She always used to say, ‘A strong heart will take you further than any physical strength. A strong heart means you’ll never quit.’ She encouraged me with school…as an immigrant she was a big believer in the American Dream and that I could have a better life if I studied hard, worked hard, she instilled all that in me…manners too. I’d say outside of school and Bucky she taught me most of what I know. She died in thirty-six when I was eighteen; got hit by TB couldn’t shake it.” He became quiet for a moment and took a sip of iced tea before moving on. “When my mom was working and later after she died…The Barnes family always stepped in and look after me.”  
“How did you meet Bucky? I know you were best friends since childhood but there’s not a lot of detail about how you met.” Steve actually managed a smile.  
“Well, a group of bullies were trying to steal my lunch money and there was no way I was going to give it to them—I got beat up a lot too in various places throughout Brooklyn, seriously I could give a tour…” This made both Steve and Catherine chuckle “…well anyway Bucky happened to walk by as I was getting the crap kicked out of me and ended up taking on the bullies; gave the main one a black eye and told them to scram. We were best friends ever since then and as I said the Barnes family were like my own...always made me feel welcome, they’d always set an extra place for me at dinner which was pretty often. Bucky and I got into all kinds of scrapes…” He trailed off, “We can move on if you have other questions.  
“Actually I kind of want to hear this,” Catherine said with interest so Steve obliged. “We went to Coney Island a lot that was a big deal then…one time Bucky convinced me to ride the Cyclon and ended up throwing up as soon as I got off. Bucky said he’d never seen so much puke come out of one little guy.” Catherine laughed  
“That’s terrible!”  
“He helped me clean up…once he was done laughing.” They both chuckled at that statement. “There was this other time where we were coming back from Rockaway Beach we had to get a ride back to Brooklyn in a freezer truck because we blew all our train money on hotdogs…and Bucky managed to blow three dollars, which believe me was a lot back then, on trying to win a stuffed bear for some red head.”  
“Sounds like you guys had a lot of good times.”  
“We did…” His expression became more serious and the expression in his eyes melancholy. Catherine decided it might be time to move along to another question. 

“Nan, are you picking up on anything yet?” Nan shook her head in response to Queenie’s question.  
“I’m not getting anything off the stuff in the duffle bag. At least not yet.”  
“I suppose we could try his dirty laundry…”  
“That’s gross,” said Nan.  
“Yeah but he’s worn it recently so maybe it still has…I don’t know pheromones or something. How about you Zoe? Found anything yet?” Zoe had been searching through the boxes of files.  
“Maybe,” she looked up at them, “all these files appear to be about some guy, The Winter Soldier.”  
“Who the hell is that?” Queenie looked at her questioningly.  
“Apparently someone really bad…he’s worked with the KGB, some organization called HYDRA, he’s linked to a lot of assassinations.”  
“Well I guess we know who’s threatening the school then,” said Queenie. She walked over to glance at the file.  
“This is confusing though…these dates…if this is the same guy he’d have to be in his nineties by now…”  
“Well hey Captain America’s in his nineties and he looks pretty good for his age…maybe this guy has something similar.”  
“I thought Captain America was the only one who received super serum though.”  
“Never underestimate the power of evil mad scientists…” Queenie saw another box of files and began to look through it, “Hmm, what was that other organization called that you mentioned.”  
“HYDRA.”  
“These files seem to be all about them,” Queenie picked up a file and began to read. “Looks like they’re an offshoot of the Nazis so definitely bad guys…apparently they were the science division.”  
“Wait a second…Nazi’s and Russians? One thing I remember from history class is that the Nazi’s and the Russians hated each other.”  
“Well let’s face it there’s a lot they don’t tell us in history class...” Queenie skimmed the file. “Besides, it looks like they became their own thing over time.”  
“Hey Nan, do you want to see if you can get anything off these? Zoe turned and saw Nan looking at a sketchpad. “What’s that?”  
“It’s his, Captain Rogers. He draws a lot; pretty good too.”  
“Well let us see it too,” said Queenie. Nan walked over to the girls and began flipping slowly through the sketchpad. 

“So what was your favorite subject in school?”  
“Probably art, I still draw a lot in my spare time. Actually I was working to save up money for art school before the war came and…well it just didn’t seem important anymore. I liked to read too and still do so English class wasn’t bad either.”  
“Well I guess that answers some of my questions about your hobbies and if you have any secret talents...”  
“Unfortunately my sketch pad is in the other house but if you like maybe I could show you some of my drawings later.”  
“That would be great! Callie would probably love to see them too… She’s my sister.”  
“Is she the one that’s getting an archery lesson from Hawkeye?”  
“Yep that’s right,” Catherine thought it might be a good idea to get back to the interview questions. “So, most people know that you got rejected from the army numerous times because of your health…How did you finally get in and then how did you get chosen to be Captain America?” Steve’s expression became pensive.  
“That was all because of Dr. Abraham Erskine.”  
“Didn’t he come up with the super serum formula?” Steve looked impressed.  
“Very good, but he was…” Steve fell into silence for a moment, “he saw something in me and gave me a chance when no one else would.”  
“Could I get some details on that?” Steve chuckled.  
“Well Bucky had dragged me out to meet up with some girls the night before he was supposed to ship out for England. We were going to take them out dancing, but we met them at this World Expo Fair. There was a recruitment station there and well,” he shrugged, “I just had to try my luck one more time.” He took another sip of the iced tea. “I was in the room ready to get inspected when the doctor left and I got a bad feeling that all the times I had lied on my enlistment form had finally caught up with me so I was about to leave but this MP comes in and I figure I’m going to jail. That’s when Dr. Erskine came in and sent the MP out. I think he overheard me arguing with Bucky about trying to enlist in the hall. He was intrigued by the fact that I had tried to enlist five times. He asked me if I wanted to kill Nazis and I told him the truth, that I didn’t want to kill anyone but that I didn’t like bullies and I didn’t care where they came from. He must have liked that answer because he approved my enlistment form, after getting my real address of course. I shipped out for Camp Lehigh that same week.”  
“Nice…” Catherine took a sip of her tea. “What about…once you were at the camp…how did you get chosen?”  
“Oh right, you asked that too…well I have a feeling I was Erskine’s pick from day one but obviously I still had to go through training. I think what ultimately sealed it though was the grenade.”  
“The grenade?!”  
“Calm down kid, it was a dummy grenade.” Steve gave Catherine an affectionate smile that a brother might give his sister.  
“Well go on what happened?”  
“The platoon was doing exercises and someone threw a dummy grenade in there but all I heard was someone yelling ‘Grenade’ and I just ran towards it and jumped on it. Erskine told me I was the candidate that afternoon.”  
“Jesus!” Catherine shook her head. “Well that certainly was either very brave or very stupid.” She immediately wondered if she had gone too far with the remark about stupidity but was reassured by Steve’s laugh.  
“Probably a little of both. Bucky certainly thought it was the latter. He was furious with me when he found out about it.” Catherine looked down at her list of questions. Her next question was about how Steve adjusted to the effects of the super serum but for some reason she couldn’t quite explain she chose to skip over that question and go to the one she had written after that.  
“Which people have inspired you the most or played an important role in your life?”  
“Well, we’ve talked about a lot of them already. My mom, Bucky, Dr. Erskine… his voice trailed off.”  
“Was there someone else?” Steve nodded silently and took a long drink of tea before he finally spoke.  
“Peggy…Margaret Carter…Agent Carter. She…supervised the operations for Project Rebirth but she was...” his voice trailed off and Catherine recognized a deep sadness in his expression and perhaps something else, regret maybe? Steve continued, “She was a hell of a fighter, she actually taught me a lot. Most people don’t know it but she even accompanied the Commandos in the field a few times. It was always a chore getting the brass to approve it though; things weren’t as enlightened then.” He lapsed into silence. “After I came out of the ice, I found out that she ended up founding SHIELD with Howard and Phillips. That was actually the main reason I worked with them until recently.” He took a deep breath, “When I crashed the Valkyrie, she was on the radio with me until the end.” Catherine pressed the pause button on the recording.  
“You were in love with her weren’t you?” Steve nodded.  
“If I’m being honest…off the record…I think I still am.”  
“Is she still…?” Catherine couldn’t finish the question but Steve seemed to know what she was asking.  
“She’s still alive. She’s in a nursing home in DC. I go to visit whenever I can.” Steve leaned back in his chair his eyes downcast. “She has Alzheimer’s. She’s had it for a while apparently.”  
“I’m so sorry,” it was all Catherine could think of to say. “How is she?”  
“She has her good days and her bad days. The nurses say that seeing me seems to help her.” He let out a heavy sigh. “I’m just glad I can bring her some comfort.”  
“I’m sure you do.” Catherine gave him a reassuring smile. Steve reached into his pocket and pulled out a small silver compass.  
“I actually have a picture of her if you would like to see it.”  
“Of course. Please.” Steve opened the compass and handed it to Catherine who found herself examining a black and white photo of a woman which seemed to have been torn out of a newspaper. From the fact that the picture was yellowed with age she realized this picture had probably been in the compass since the forties. Peggy seemed to have dark hair and eyes though it was hard to tell from the photo. Catherine imagined that her lips from their definition must have been some shade of red. Perhaps it was simply from hearing Steve’s descriptions of Peggy but she thought her expression contained an assertiveness and intelligence that made her stand out as being more than simply a pretty face. “She’s beautiful.” She handed the compass back to Steve.  
“She is,” was all he said in return. 

Zoe, Queenie, and Nan opened the sketchbook to the first page. It contained a picture of a woman with blonde hair and blue eyes. She looked to be in her thirties and her smile was warm and nurturing.  
“That’s his mom, Sarah” said Nan.  
“Well let’s keep going. Obviously you’re getting something off this…” Queenie flipped the page to a man in uniform with short brown hair and dark eyes.  
“That’s Bucky, Steve’s best friend.” Queenie wrinkled her nose.  
“Who the hell names their kid Bucky?”  
“I think his name was James Buchanan…Bucky was just a nickname.” Zoe looked at the picture more closely.  
“Something wrong?” Queenie looked at her questioningly.  
“I feel…something about this guy is familiar.”  
“We’ve all seen pictures of the Howling Commandos Zoe.”  
“No I mean I’ve seen his picture somewhere else. I just can’t think where…”  
“Well you can mull it over while we keep flipping through.” There were a few more sketches of Bucky and then they came to pictures of an attractive brunette woman.  
“She’s pretty,” said Queenie, “so Nan who is she?”  
“Peggy Carter, Captain America’s girlfriend.” She said this last word with a level of glee in her voice.  
“Whoa that guy had a girlfriend? I mean he’s cute but he’s got kind of a ninety year old virgin vibe.”  
“Oh he’s no virgin,” said Nan.  
“Really?!” Queenie’s eyes darted from Nan to the notebook and back again. “Her and…?” Nan nodded. “Huh,” Queenie sat back and shook her head, “Go Cap…” There were several more pictures of Peggy and then pictures of various members of the Avengers. In the last few pages of the sketch book there were pictures of a much older woman who looked as though she was in a hospital bed.  
“Who’s that?” Queenie looked at Nan.  
“It’s Peggy, just older now.”  
“Wow, that’s gotta suck,” said Zoe.  
“He’s really sad about it, he’s feels he lost his chance at a life with her and he’s scared of the day he’s going to lose her for good.”  
“Your clairvoyance must be getting better if you got all that just from a picture.” Queenie smiled at Nan who turned the page. These final pages were a very different figure. It was a man cloaked in black with a metal arm.  
“What the fuck…?” Queenie muttered out loud. Nan’s eyes widened.  
“That’s The Winter Soldier. He knows him…” Her face became distressed, “He’s his friend.”  
“Oh my God!” Zoe pulled over the box of files she had been looking through and started opening them one after the other until she finally found what she was looking for.  
“This picture!” She held it up showing it to Nan and Queenie. I thought the face looked familiar…I didn’t recognize him with the longer hair but it’s Bucky!” Queenie flipped back through the sketchbook to the drawings of Bucky and sure enough the faces were the same.  
“Shit,” said Queenie she looked at Zoe and Nan, “So I guess this is what he’s been hiding.”  
“Why though?” Zoe looked troubled.  
“Honestly at this point I don’t care about the why. The fact is he hasn’t been upfront with Cordelia.” Queenie looked at Zoe and Nan her expression one of firm resolve, “I think we need to tell her.”  
“Alright,” Zoe grabbed some of the files, the picture and Steve’s sketchbook. Suddenly the three girls heard someone walking up the porch steps. “Shit! What do we do?”  
“We’re gonna have to transmute,” said Queenie.  
“But…”  
“It’s ok Nan, I think if Zoe and I both focus we should be able to bring you with us just all of us have to concentrate.” Queenie put her hands on Zoe and Nan’s shoulders. “On the count of three we focus on the parlor at the school. One…”  
The doorknob turned.  
“Three!” As soon as Zoe cried out the girls vanished.


	7. Chapter 7

Zoe, Queenie and Nan appeared in the parlor of the school.  
“Holy shit! We did it! Zoe started laughing. “We managed to transmute all three of us to the same location!”  
“Thanks for not leaving me behind…or splitting me in half.” Nan looked a bit ill at ease.  
“No problem, I’m just glad I didn’t get impaled on a gate again,” said Zoe.  
“Seriously guys, we’ve got to get Cordelia.”  
“She should still be in her lab but,” Zoe paused, “Doctor Banner’s with her.”  
“We should probably get her alone then.”  
“I’ll make something up.” Zoe vanished, presumably to the lab and Queenie and Nan headed to Cordelia’s office. A few moments later Cordelia appeared with Zoe.  
“Ok girls what is this about?” She looked at the three of them concerned.  
“The Winter Soldier is Captain America’s best friend,” Nan blurted out.  
“What?” Cordelia looked at the girls confused.  
“It’s true Cordelia,” said Zoe, “Nan had a bad feeling about the guy and we…we went into the other house and did some digging.” She placed the files, the photo, and the sketchbook on Cordelia’s desk. Cordelia sat in her chair and looked the items the girls had brought her. “I mean, why wouldn’t he say anything?”  
“While there may be another explanation, I must admit that is a question I would very much like to ask Captain Rogers.” Cordelia took off her glasses and put them to the side. The look on her face was one that the girls were very glad was not directed at them. “Girls, perhaps you could fetch Captain Rogers and the other members of the team to my office.”  
“Yes Ma’am” said Queenie with aplomb. She, Zoe and Nan left to fetch the various members of the team.

As they followed Zoe upstairs, Clint turned to Bruce and Sam. “Why do I have bad memories of getting called to the principal’s office?”  
“Because technically that’s exactly what’s happening,” said Sam. At the upper landing, they met Natasha and Steve who were being led by Queenie and Nan respectively.  
“Do you have any idea what’s going on?” Natasha looked at each of the men in turn.  
“Nope, but whatever it is I have a feeling it isn’t good," Clint replied. They were lead into Cordelia’s office. The girls came around behind Cordelia’s desk. Cordelia was standing her arms folded and her face stern.  
“Explain these please,” She motioned to the items laid out on her desk. Each of the members of the team immediately recognized the files, Bucky’s picture and Steve’s sketchbook with the drawings of Bucky.  
“How did you get those?” Steve’s voice was quiet.  
“I’m asking the questions now Captain Rogers,” Cordelia glared at him “explain these.”  
“What do you need me to explain?”  
“Well for starters why the man that is apparently targeting us is your best friend from World War II and why the hell you didn’t think that was worth mentioning to me; which for that matter goes for every one of you,” she glowered at each of the team members in turn especially Natasha and Bruce.  
“Maybe we should do this alone,” Steve glanced at the girls behind Cordelia’s desk.  
“No, you have your team I have mine, start talking.” Steve sighed.  
“It’s true, The Winter Soldier is Bucky, but it’s not what you think…”  
“And what would you imagine we’re thinking Captain Rogers?”  
“We are here to protect you. That is the truth but…I wanted to tell you before,” he stated earnestly, “Nick thought it would be better if we waited until you got comfortable with us being here.”  
“And when was that going to be? When your friend had a rifle pointed at my head or maybe at my students? It seems you’re the one with the trust issues Captain. In case you’re forgetting I allowed you, invited you, not just into this school but into our home.”  
“You’re right!” Steve interjected, “you’re right,” he said more softly. "I’m sorry about all of this. I’m sorry I didn’t tell you about things from the beginning, I’m sorry you found out this way. The truth is we need your help too…well, I do.”  
“With what exactly?”  
“It’s complicated,”  
“Well let’s all have a seat.” Once a few more chairs had been brought in and the team was seated Steve began to explain.  
“In 1945 The Howling Commandos were on a mission to capture Arnim Zola. We succeeded but Bucky was caught in an ambush and ended up falling…we thought to his death. But Bucky survived. He was captured by HYDRA and they…” Steve took a ragged breath, “they’ve brainwashed him, experimented on him, done God knows else to him to turn him into their weapon.” He looked at Cordelia almost pleadingly “I have to try to help him he’s my friend. It’s my fault that HYDRA got ahold of him in the first place.”  
“I sympathize Captain Rogers but,” here Cordelia took a deep breath, “how do you know you can help him? That he’s not too far gone?”  
“Because when SHIELD collapsed earlier this year, HYDRA sent him after us, well me, Nat and Sam.” He gazed intently at Cordelia. “He recognized me, he was supposed to kill me but he didn’t.”  
“And what about all the other people he’s killed over the years?” Zoe looked pointedly at Steve.  
“He would never have done any of it if he wasn’t under HYDRA’s control. I know he’s done some horrible things but he’s a victim too.”  
“What exactly do you need us to do?” Cordelia looked at Steve inquiringly.  
“From the files, and from what I’ve seen, I know you and your students can do…” he trailed off, “well even with all I’ve seen and learned in the past few years the only term I can think of to describe what you can do is a miracle and that’s what Bucky needs.”  
“We’re not miracle workers Captain Rogers but,” Cordelia sighed. “We can try to help your friend.”  
“Thank you,” said Steve.  
“Don’t thank me yet, I’m not exactly sure what we can do. We have to see the patient…provided he doesn’t kill us first.”  
“He won’t, that’s why we’re here.”  
“Captain Rogers,” Cordelia paused, “I need you…I need all of you to understand, I’m not afraid for my life, but when it comes to my students…” she looked at Steve fixedly, “if we are going to work together and trust each other, then I need to know that you will do whatever it takes to protect them.” He nodded his head.  
“I will.”  
“Ok then,” Cordelia handed him back the files and the sketchbook. “I suppose we’d all better get to work then…Zoe, Queenie, would you get Catherine, Callista and Misty for me?” They nodded and disappeared. Nan and the members of the team left the office. Bruce however, stayed behind.  
“Cordelia…”  
“Dr. Banner, if I’m going to restore the memory and/or deprogram a ninety year old weapon then I’m going to need to...”  
“Cordelia, please, it was Steve’s place to tell you not mine. But…I’m sorry we didn’t tell you sooner.” Cordelia looked at him sadly.  
“I am too.” Bruce looked at her helplessly.  
“Cordelia…”  
“Dr. Banner, maybe all things considered it’s best if we keep things professional.”  
“Alright then,” Bruce left the office. Cordelia made her way back behind her desk and collapsed back into her chair. Sighing deeply she tried to turn her thoughts to the task that lay ahead.

That night Catherine found herself wracked with anxiousness. Partly because she, Callista, and Misty would be working with Cordelia to find ways to potentially rehabilitate Bucky Barnes, if of course, he could be subdued. However, she was more perturbed by her earlier encounter with Captain Rogers. As she had made her way to Cordelia’s office that afternoon, she had met Captain Rogers coming down the hall. As he had met her gaze he seemed to have a sudden moment of comprehension.  
“There wasn’t going to be a newsletter, was there?” She had found herself shaking her head.  
“I…still could…write something,” she managed to stammer.  
“Forget it kid.” His tone was gentle but sounded almost hurt. As he walked away from her Catherine couldn’t help feeling mortified. She had always heard that one should never meet their heroes in case the result was disappointing but what exactly one should do if they disappointed their hero or heroes she had no idea. She needed to make this right.  
Grabbing the robe beside her bed she silently made her way out of her room, down the stairs of the house, and out the door. She shivered a little in the cool night air and walked across the lawn feeling the dewy grass beneath her feet. She made her way to the house next door. Steve was sitting on the steps of the front porch. He sat bolt upright hearing her approach but relaxed when he realized it was her.  
“Shouldn’t you be in bed kid?”  
“I was having trouble sleeping…”she proceeded to walk up and sat next to Steve on the steps. "Frankly, I’m surprised you’re up.”  
“Ever since the super serum I haven’t needed much sleep. At most I only need three to four hours a night and that’s after a really long day…” He lapsed into silence and Catherine took the opportunity to speak.  
“I just wanted to apologize for earlier. For tricking you…” She looked at him uncomfortably and he sighed.  
“Apology accepted. To be honest, I’m kind of glad everything is out in the open.” They sat in silence for a minute before Steve spoke again.  
“Did you all really think that I was going to hurt you guys or allow it to happen? I mean I’ve made mistakes but…I didn’t think I had screwed up my reputation that badly.” He actually looked wounded.  
“I don’t think I really believed it, but you have to understand…” Catherine sighed, “until Cordelia announced to the world that witchcraft existed we felt we had hide. Sometimes even from each other. If people started asking questions or became a threat witches either ran or closed ranks. When you’ve had that your whole life sometimes it’s hard to know when you can trust people or even learn how to.”  
“Was that the case for you and your sister?”  
“To be honest my sister and I were pretty lucky. Our grandma on Dad’s side is a witch too so she had a big hand in raising us and teaching us how to control our powers and Mom and Dad were really supportive but…” she bit her lip, “I can’t say we had an especially difficult time, not compared to some of the other girls here, but we didn’t really hang out with any other kids our age. We didn’t even go to school, Mom hired tutors for us who all had to sign non-disclosure agreements. We were pretty much under constant supervision because our family was so scared of someone finding out about our powers and whatever consequences might come from that.”  
“Sounds lonely.” Catherine nodded.  
“Callie and I had each other though.”  
“Still though…” Steve looked at her sympathetically, “It’s got to be difficult.”  
“No more then what you’ve gone through.” Catherine gave him a small smile which Steve returned though his tone remained solemn.  
“I chose to take the super serum, from what I understand none of you had that choice.”  
“Maybe,” said Catherine, “though strictly speaking I wasn’t talking about the serum or its effects on you.”  
“What then?”  
“That you’ve lost so much.”  
“I’ve thought about why I didn’t tell the truth about Bucky from the beginning. I told Cordelia that Nick advised me not to but that was only part of it.” He let out a deep sigh. “Honestly, I think I was afraid that if I asked for help and she said no that I wouldn’t have anywhere else to turn. Bucky’s all I have left…well him and Peggy and I know the day is coming that I’m going to lose Peggy for good. I can’t lose Bucky, not when it’s my fault he ended up as HYDRA’s tool in the first place.”  
“I know something about that,” Catherine said quietly, “losing someone I mean…and blaming yourself for it.” Steve glanced over at her empathetically.  
“Who did you lose?”  
“Our brother, Robert.” Catherine sighed and Steve thought he saw her blink back a few tears. “When he was sixteen he got with a bad crowd. He didn’t have any powers so our parents weren’t as worried about him. Ultimately, that was the problem. Our family was so focused about protecting Callie and I that he got lost in the shuffle and he resented it. He left home that same year and we haven’t seen him since.”  
“How long has it been?”  
“Three years now.” Neither one of them spoke for several moments after that. Finally Steve broke the silence.  
“I’m sorry but you know, you and your sister weren’t responsible for your parent’s choices or your brother’s for that matter.”  
“Thanks, though you might want to take your own advice…with Bucky I mean.” She looked at him with compassion, “you didn’t know what HYDRA was doing to him and we’re going to do whatever we can to find a way to heal him.” She found herself yawning, “Though I suppose if I’m going to be of any use I should probably go ahead and get some sleep.”  
“I’ll walk with you back to the school.”  
“It’s only next door.”  
“Still kid, part of the job is keeping you safe.”  
“Oh, one small favor,” Catherine said as the two of them got up, “could you not call me ‘kid’? It’s a little bit demeaning. Catherine will be fine.” Steve chuckled.  
“Sorry, in my day it was a term of endearment.”  
“As in, ‘Here’s looking at you kid…’ I know.”  
“Once again I’m impressed, I wouldn’t think many teenagers today would have seen Casablanca.”  
“Dad and Grandma are huge film buffs. Grandma made sure we saw all the classics and Dad made sure we saw everything else.” They walked to the door of the school. “Goodnight Captain Rogers.”  
“Good Night Catherine, get some sleep.” He gave her a good natured smile. “If you want, you don’t have to keep calling me Captain Rogers, Steve will be fine.”  
“Ok, night Steve.”  
When Catherine got back to her room she opened the notebook that she had used that afternoon and tore out the first page with her interview questions. She closed it deep in thought then, picking up a pen, she wrote the words Project Rebirth 2.0 on the cover. She placed underneath her pillow and within a few minutes she was asleep.


	8. Chapter 8

Cordelia was in her lab reading over various manuscripts about spells related to memory and healing while Natasha sat in the corner on guard. Any moment Misty and the twins were supposed to arrive. Instead Madison came in looking particularly annoyed.  
“Seriously Cordelia, how much longer are we going to be stuck here?”  
“Hopefully not much longer Madison,” Cordelia looked up from her manuscripts, “I know it’s been uncomfortable for all of us but as soon as this man is caught…”  
“How do we know this guy is even still coming here? Maybe he saw that ‘earth’s mightiest heroes’ were here and took off.”  
“He’s coming.” Natasha gave Madison a steely gaze. “Once this guy has a target, a mission, he accomplishes it. It might take him awhile but he finds a way.”  
“Oh and we should trust you because…?” Madison glared at her. “You guys haven’t exactly been up front with us as I recall.”  
“Madison,” Cordelia’s tone was gentle but firm, “Please be respectful to our guests.”  
“She lied to you, they all did and you’re just ok with taking orders from them?”  
“We are working together to keep everyone safe Madison. I know it’s difficult but until this is over we need to be on our guard and stay together.” Madison rolled her eyes.  
“This is just great.” Fourth of July weekend’s coming and we’re going to be stuck here. Fucking awesome.” She stomped out of the lab as Misty, Catherine, and Callista made their way in.  
“Should I even ask?” Callista looked from the door to Cordelia.  
“Madison’s just a little frustrated with how things are currently…She was particularly unhappy about the fact we’ll have to be here for the Fourth of July weekend.”  
“Well, can’t say I blame her there,” said Callista with a shrug. Suddenly she grinned at Cordelia. “I think I have an idea.” Cordelia smiled at her and took off her glasses.  
“Ok I’m listening.”  
“Well, we all need to blow off some steam. Maybe we can have a Fourth of July party here. It might not impress Madison but I’m sure the other girls will like it. We could grill outside. Have burgers, hotdogs…maybe even light some fireworks.”  
“It’s Steve’s birthday too,” Catherine piped up, “Maybe we could get him a cake and ice cream.”  
“I’m not sure Steve will like anyone making a fuss over him,” Natasha said from the corner. She paused and seemed to think for a moment. “I’m all for it.” She grinned at the girls.  
“So what do you think Cordelia?” Callista looked at her with anticipation.  
“I think of Fourth of July celebration might be just what we need,” Cordelia gave the girls an encouraging smile. “Let’s do some work now but maybe this afternoon Natasha and I can go grocery shopping pick up some things for the weekend.”  
“Sounds good to me,” said Natasha. “I might want to let Steve know.”  
“Don’t tell him about the birthday stuff,” said Catherine.  
“I won’t I’ll just let him know about the party so we can make a plan for security.” She left the room as Cordelia and the girls got to work on their research.

Steve was on the porch of the team’s lodgings when Natasha’s voice came over the com link.  
“Hey Rogers, where are you?”  
“Just on the porch watching the neighborhood.”  
“Ok, be there in a minute.”  
“What about Cordelia?”  
“She’s in the lab with the girls. She’ll be fine this shouldn’t take long.” True to her word she managed to make her way the porch within sixty seconds. Steve looked at her with disbelief.  
“Did you climb over the fence?”  
“Technically it’s more of a wall but yes; I have to keep in practice.” Steve chuckled.  
“So Cordelia talking to you again yet?”  
“She’s warming up. Actually, I need to talk to you about this weekend.”  
“Nat for the last time I don’t want anything for my birthday…”  
“Actually some of the girls had this idea to throw an Independence Day party; burgers, dogs fireworks...that kind of thing.”  
“I’m not sure that’s a good idea,” said Steve with a sigh.  
“Come on Steve, we’ve kept them cooped up in that house all summer…”  
“Nat, you know what we’re facing here. If there is any time that Bucky is likely to attack it’s when…”  
“There are fireworks masking the sounds of gunshots? Believe me I’ve thought about that but maybe we can try to make sure most of the festivities are during the day. We could also see if Tony, Rhodes, and Maria would be willing to come. They are supposed to be our back up on this. Hell knowing Tony, he’ll probably put together his own fireworks display.”  
“You’re not exactly making me feel better about this,” said Steve with a wry smile.  
“Look Steve,” Natasha sighed, “we did kind of screw up with not telling them about Bucky from the beginning…maybe helping Cordelia and the girls put something together would win us back some trust. Some good will at the very least.”  
“I guess I can give Tony a call,” Steve glanced over at Natasha, “are you ok Nat?”  
“Yeah, why?”  
“It’s just I don’t think I would have expected you to…” Steve tried to find the words, “You’re the last one on the team that I would have expected to have any regrets about the way we handled things.”  
“Well ever since SHIELD collapsed I guess I’ve been reconsidering stuff, well…” she gave him a sly grin, “that or your whole goody two-shoes shtick is rubbing off on me.” Steve laughed.  
“Just promise me one thing.”  
“What?”  
“This had better not be a surprise birthday party.” Natasha’s face was a cipher.  
“Of course not Steve.”  
“I’m serious!”  
“Would I lie to you?”  
“Yes.”  
“Geez that hurts,” she gave Steve a sarcastic smirk. “Cordelia and I will probably be going to pick stuff up for the party this afternoon then.” With that she made her way back to the school. 

That afternoon Cordelia and Natasha made their way through the crowded grocery store to get what they needed for the party.  
“So we will probably need enough food and drinks for sixty five people counting your team.”  
“You might want to add three more, we figured we would need our backup for this shindig so Tony, Rhodes, and Maria will be flying out.” Cordelia nodded.  
“Thanks for letting me know,” she couldn’t help but give Natasha a pointed glance.  
I’m sorry that we didn’t tell you about this whole thing with Barnes. We all are, believe me.” She looked at Cordelia warily.  
“I guess if it was the other way around, if it was one of my students that needed help, maybe I would have done the same thing…”  
“Would it be possible for us to start fresh?”  
“I guess,” Cordelia gave Natasha an amiable smile.  
The two of them got plenty of food and drinks for the party and Natasha ordered a giant sheet cake for Steve that she arranged to be delivered Friday morning.  
“Good news though, we don’t have to worry about decorations or fireworks. Tony said he’d handle everything else. Say what you will about the guy but he does know how to throw a great party.”  
“Well as long as the police aren’t on our doorstep by the end of the night.”  
“I have a feeling Tony’s probably greasing up the local and state politicians as we speak.”  
“I take it this is a common occurrence?”  
“Let’s just say this is going to be a very interesting weekend.”  
Wednesday morning, Cordelia had assembled the girls for morning gathering she was just about to start her announcements when one of the girls came running out of the parlor.  
“There’s a limo parked outside!!!” The majority of the students stampeded to the front door and made their way out to the porch leaving Cordelia with Natasha, and a few of the more faithful students.  
“Girls!” Cordelia shouted but no one seemed to be paying any attention. Natasha walked up beside her.  
“That would probably be Tony.”  
“Well I guess we should go say hello,” The two women followed by Queenie, Zoe, Misty, Nan, Madison and the twins made their way out to the front porch. Sure enough, a long black stretch limousine was parked at the curb. The driver by this time had made his way to the back door. He opened it and out stepped Tony Stark. Squeals of delight echoed from the majority of the students. Cordelia saw Steve, Sam and Bruce making their way towards Tony as Colonel James Rhodes and Maria Hill stepped out of the limo as well. They seemed to exchange pleasantries before they made their way up the sidewalk towards Cordelia the students parting like red sea before them.  
“Ms. Goode I’m sure you remember Tony Stark, Colonel Rhodes and Maria Hill,” said Steve.  
“Of course…”  
“Excuse me Steve, you forgot Happy Hogan; the greatest limo driver, bodyguard and head of security Stark Industries has ever had.”  
“Of course, my apologies Mr. Hogan.”  
“Just call me Happy.”  
“Happy, meet Cordelia Goode.”  
“It’s a pleasure to meet all of you in person,” she said pleasantly, “I must say Mr. Stark you do make quite an entrance.” She held her hand out to shake hands with each of them.  
“Cordelia Goode, it’s a pleasure to meet you as well." Tony turned to the students.  
“I have a very important question ladies. Are you ready to experience the greatest Fourth of July celebration ever?!!” The students screamed and applauded as Cordelia looked around at the neighboring houses praying they weren’t disturbing the other residents of the neighborhood.  
“Depends will there be alcohol?” Madison came out from behind Cordelia a smirk on her face.  
“There will be…for the adults, you can have a root beer though. I’ll even go all out and make it a root beer float,” Tony replied.  
“Well I have a fake ID that says I’m twenty-one will that work?” Rhodes looked at Madison sternly.  
“As a representative of the United States government I would have to say no.”  
“Seriously? Who the hell are you anyway?”  
“This happens to be Colonel James Rhodes Ms. Montgomery and I would advise you not to disrespect him.” Rhodes looked almost touched.  
“Why thank you Tony…” before he could finish however Tony interrupted.  
“I’m the only one allowed to disrespect him.” Rhodes let out a sigh of frustration.  
“There it is.”  
“So why did you pick the name ‘Iron Man?’ Were you compensating for something?”  
“Actually, I didn’t pick the name, the press did. You know how they can be. Though I must say I am surprised at you being witch. All this time I thought that your co-stars were just commenting on your behavior.” There was a ripple of giggles from the majority of the girls while Queenie doubled over with laughter and Nan’s face lit up in a grin.  
“Damn, that was a burn!” Nan shook Tony’s hand, “Thank you Mr. Stark.”  
“No problem. What’s your name sweetheart?”  
“Nan.”  
“Well Nan, you are adorable.” Nan giggled while Madison scowled at Tony and rolled her eyes.  
“Girls, I suggest we go back inside for morning gathering, I’m sure you would all like to get settled in.”  
“We’re in the house next door. We’ll show you over,” said Bruce. As they walked towards the other house Steve shook his head.  
“A limo Stark? We’re supposed to be undercover.”  
“Says the man whose uniform is a star spangled outfit…relax Cap, there would be more questions if I wasn’t in a limo besides it’s a Tesla; we’re saving the environment.”  
“You know what? I have patrols, I’ll see you guys later,” said Sam with a roll of his eyes at Tony. Steve glanced at Rhodes, Maria, and Happy.  
“Exactly how do you deal with this on a daily basis?”  
“Well technically I work more with Pepper these days; Tony just borrows me on occasion but um…I’m gonna get the car and start unloading the bags,” Happy quickly made his escape. Maria Hill rolled her eyes and glanced at Steve.  
“No Comment.”  
“How about you Rhodes?”  
“Honestly…I don’t know anymore; probably Stockholm syndrome.”  
When they arrived at the house Steve opened the door and lead Tony, Rhodes and Maria inside. Tony looked around the sparsely furnished room in horror.  
“My God! There are caves in Afghanistan that are more comfortable. I would know.”  
“Really Tony? Please tell us more about time you spent in a cave,” Rhodes said with a weary look that indicated he had heard this story many times before.  
“Well they hadn’t exactly been able to clean the place out before we came but it’s better than nothing,” said Steve.  
“Oh no...Maria, take notes for me.  
“For the sixty fourth time I am your security consultant NOT your secretary.”  
“Fine JARVIS take notes,” he said taking out his phone.  
“Of course Mr. Stark though I will also remind you I am not your secretary either.”  
“Don’t start…call the interior decorator…I don’t know the name but Pepper does. Send pictures of every room in the house and tell them to order furniture, let them know it’s going to be a dorm but tell them money is not an issue. Tell them to get those mattresses that have the memory foam…How’s the kitchen?  
“It’s fine…” said Steve.  
“Replace everything, let’s get the most up to date appliances in there. If it can be done as fast as possible that would be excellent.”  
“Of course Mr. Stark, though I might remind you with the upcoming holiday weekend there might be a slight delay.”  
“That reminds me this weekend, I’ve prepared a fireworks display that is going to make everything else look like a cherry bomb. I’ve also got permits to shut down the street for the day we’re going to take over the neighborhood; picture this ‘A Fourth of July Festival’…it’ll have games, karaoke, photo booths, some massage tables, a build a bear station, a petting zoo—chicks are into petting zoos right? We’ll extend the invite to the whole neighborhood; the girls are going to love it…”  
“Tony!” Steve looked at him with frustration. “You realize we actually have a job to do here.”  
“And we’re doing it Cap but there’s no reason we can’t have a little fun while we’re at it. Speaking of fun,” he turned to Bruce, “how are things between you and Ms. Goode? I can see why you like her; she’s definitely got that sexy school teacher vibe.”  
“Well we haven’t really talked much since everything came out about Barnes…We kind of agreed to keep things professional…”  
“JARVIS order flowers for Cordelia Goode—roses include a note that says they are from Dr. Banner…“ Bruce interrupted.  
“Tony, its fine, leave it alone.” Bruce looked at him seriously, “I mean it.”  
“JARVIS cancel the flowers…” Tony said with a slightly annoyed tone.  
“Thank You,” said Bruce. “I’ve got a few things I need you to take care of…”  
“Me too,” said Steve, “please Tony, try not to go overboard on this. The focus needs to be on protecting Cordelia and the girls.”  
“We’ll help Happy out with the bags,” said Rhodes. He and Maria followed Steve outside.  
As soon as he was alone in the room Tony picked up his phone again.  
“JARVIS, definitely send those flowers, 24 roses, include a note…Cordelia, uh…something romantic. Dr. Banner.”  
“Are you sure that interfering in Dr. Banner’s love life is wise Mr. Stark?”  
“Just do it JARVIS.”

By the fourth of July, the atmosphere among the students was full of exultation while Cordelia and the Avengers (with the exception of Tony Stark) were already wishing the day was over. That morning Steve and Sam surveyed the neighborhood which now was filled with booths. Sam shook his head at the spectacle.  
“So man are you ready for this insanity?”  
“Ready as I’ll ever be I suppose,”  
“Why did we need to bring in Stark again?”  
“Believe me I’ve been asking myself that for the past two days. Oh by the way at twelve the twins asked me to come to Cordelia’s office. Will you guys be ok?”  
“Yeah no problem, they actually talked to me about it already.” Steve shook his head.  
“I told Natasha no birthday surprises.”  
“You can’t blame Nat for this one, the twins came up with it all on their own.”  
“You know what it is then?”  
“Hey I’m not saying anything, the girls swore me to secrecy; but I will say I think it’s something you’ll really appreciate.”

A few minutes before noon, Steve made his way to Cordelia’s office. Callista was sitting at Cordelia’s desk with a laptop in front of her. Catherine was leaning over her looking at the screen.  
“Steve!” Catherine ran over and gave him a hug. “Happy Birthday!” Steve couldn’t help but smile at her enthusiasm.  
“So girls what’s the big surprise?”  
“Well, have you heard of Skype?” Callista looked up from the computer towards him.  
“Yes.”  
“Well we arranged a little Skype chat for you today.” Callista stood up from the chair and beckoned Steve over, “if you would please just sit here.” Steve walked over behind the desk and sat down. He finally looked at the screen and what he saw made his heart stop.  
It was Peggy in her bed at the nursing home. On either side of her were two women who Steve immediately realized must the twin’s mother and grandmother and which Callista immediately confirmed.  
“Steve, this is our mom Alice and our Grandma Eleanor”  
“It’s a pleasure to meet you,” said Alice, “the girls have told me so much about you.” It took Steve a moment before he was finally able to speak.  
“How did you do all this?”  
“Well,” Catherine knelt down next to him, “we felt bad that we couldn’t get you a birthday present but then we thought about it and thought you’d like this more…”  
“We were going to be in DC this weekend anyway so when the girls asked us to do this we were only too happy,” said Alice with a smile that was very reminiscent of her daughters.  
“How did you two get on the list to see Peggy?” At that moment Eleanor got a mischievous twinkle in her eye.  
“Oh I was just my usual charming self.” Steve had a feeling some sort of magic was probably involved but he was too grateful to care.  
“Well, thank you…all of you.” His voice was filled with emotion.  
“Oh none of that,” said Eleanor. Besides, we shouldn’t waste any more time…we should let you and Ms. Carter here catch up.” The two women stood up and Steve heard Eleanor say to Peggy “We’ll be out in the hall if you need anything dear.”  
“We’re going to go too,” said Catherine. She gave Steve another hug, “Happy Birthday.”  
“Thanks.” Steve actually found himself having to blink back a few tears.  
“Steve, is it ok if I call you Steve too?”  
“Of course.”  
“Awesome! Happy Birthday Steve!” Callista gave him a hug too and she and Catherine left the room. Steve turned back to the screen and was met with Peggy’s smiling face.  
“Happy Birthday Darling,” she said softly. They talked for two hours. Peggy seemed very lucid today, not many lapses in memory and Steve couldn’t help but wonder if Grandma Eleanor had also contributed in this regard as well. By the time they needed to end the call, Steve felt renewed and ready to face the rest of the day.

By that afternoon the festivities were in full swing. Cordelia was happy that the girls seemed to be enjoying themselves and that the neighbors seemed to be having fun as well. She suspected that Tony Stark had a hand in placating them about any inconveniences the event might have caused them. As she was overseeing the grill Bruce walked over to her.  
“Hey, need a hand with that?”  
“I’m fine, I can actually handle myself quite well around a grill…”  
“Oh no, I wasn’t I’m sure your great…you’re a great cook.” He lapsed into silence.  
“I got your roses,” she looked at Bruce with slight exasperation. “They were beautiful but I thought we had agreed…”  
“To keep things professional…well actually I was. The roses were all Tony, no lie. I told him not to send them but as usual he ignored me…not much of a shock I suppose.” Cordelia couldn’t help but laugh a little.  
“I guess that explains the note then…” Bruce looked alarmed.  
“He sent a note too?!”  
“I believe it said Cordelia, Something romantic- Dr. Banner.” Bruce put his head in his hand  
“Jesus, I’m sorry…”  
“I’m not actually,” Cordelia sighed, “I talked to Nat and I’ve been thinking about the whole thing and…maybe I was a little hard on all of you. Don’t get me wrong you still should have told me.”  
“No question,” said Bruce.  
“I also thought though, if it was a student or even just a witch that was on the wrong path and needed my help and I needed someone to help me help them, that I could understand putting that first…”  
“So are we forgiven?”  
“I suppose so…” she gave Bruce a smile, “now would you like a veggie burger or a veggie hot dog…?” Bruce chuckled slightly.  
“You know me so well. I guess a burger but I would like to make a special request.”  
“And what would that be?”  
“Maybe you could have it with me? Totally professional…platonic we’re just eating a burger.”  
“Alright,” she looked over Bruce’s shoulder, “Here comes trouble.” Tony Stark was headed in their direction trailed by Happy.  
“Hey kids, is this a great party or what? What are you guys up to?”  
“We were just about to have a burger,” said Cordelia.  
“Well in that case let me take over the grill.”  
“You know how to grill?” Cordelia looked at him with uncertainty.  
“Of course, I mean how hard can it be? The meat practically cooks itself, might I suggest a cold beer from the bar? Speaking of beer you don’t have to worry about Ms. Montgomery, I have personally ordered the bartenders not to give her anything alcoholic.”  
“Thank you for your efforts Mr. Stark, unfortunately she seems to be having a drink right now.” Tony turned towards the bar in disbelief where sure enough Madison was sitting sipping a margarita looking smug.  
“What the…? I’m firing that guy.”  
“Don’t, it’s not his fault I suspect concilium was involved,” she composed herself, “I will handle this and then we will have that burger Bruce.” As she left to deal with Madison, Bruce turned to Tony.  
“I told you not to send those roses and by the way what was with that note? Cordelia, Something romantic—Dr. Banner? My God I sounded like some poor imitation of…you.” Tony held up his hand.  
“Wait, what did that note say?”  
“Cordelia, Something romantic—Dr. Banner.” Tony took out his phone.  
“JARVIS I’m going to delete you.”  
“I believe that is an empty threat sir.”  
“Don’t get cute JARVIS! What was with that note?”  
“I was merely following your instructions sir. You did say something romantic…”  
“Yes I meant a poem or a quote…why am I even explaining this? You know damn well what I meant JARVIS!”  
“I apologize for any errors but perhaps next time you should be more specific sir.” Tony stuffed his phone back into his pocket clearly exasperated.  
“I never thought I would say this but…I think I made him too smart.” Bruce rolled his eyes.  
“Yeah Tony, you have a real problem on your hands there…” he chuckled, “serves you right though.”  
“Fine Banner, laugh now, but you’ll be thanking me down the road.” Before Bruce could make a retort Cordelia had made her way back to them.  
“I got her to exchange it for a virgin drink,” she sighed, “with Madison it is one day at a time but she’s making progress.”  
“Well, you’re a great teacher,” said Bruce. Cordelia smiled at him appreciatively. Tony cleared his throat.  
“How about the two of you go ahead get your burgers…seriously go talk some more about teaching methods…” Cordelia and Bruce smirked but followed his advice. After they left Tony turned to the grill.  
“Ok…so I use that thing to turn the food over…do we need to turn up the flames on this?” Happy shook his head and stepped in.  
“I’ve got it Tony.”

Steve was patrolling the street when he ran into the twins coming from the Build-A-Bear booth.  
“Hey Steve!” Callista had a stuffed dragon while Catherine was carrying a unicorn.  
“Hey,” he smiled back, “You two are having fun I see…”  
“Hell yeah! You’re never too old to make a stuffed animal. You should try it; they have a Captain America Bear! They actually have a bear for every Avenger. It’s crazy!” Steve chuckled at Callista’s enthusiasm.  
“Well I’ll think about it…” At that moment Sam’s voice came over the com link.  
“Hey man, could you come back to the school? Nothing serious just need you here.”  
“Sure man, over and out.” He glanced at the twins, “looks like I need to head back to the school.”  
“We’ll come with you actually,” said Callista. As they walked back to the school Steve cleared his throat.  
“I just wanted to thank you both again…for this morning. Please be sure to thank your mother and grandma too…”  
“It’s nothing, we were happy to help. I imagine you would have gone to visit personally if you weren’t stuck here.” said Catherine kindly. They arrived at the school and turned into the yard. Most of the students were there along with Cordelia and all the members of the team.  
“AND HERE HE IS CAPTAIN AMERICA!” Tony’s voice boomed from above where he and Colonel Rhodes levitated in their respective suits holding a giant birthday cake lit with sparklers between them. As a chorus of “Happy Birthday” rose up Steve suddenly caught sight of something in his peripheral. As he glanced at the porch where the rest of the team was standing along with Cordelia and her council, he noticed a red dot on Cordelia’s face.  
“EVERYBODY DOWN NOW!” At that moment a shot rang out.


	9. Chapter 9

Cordelia found herself being knocked to the floor of the porch. She gasped for breath and opened her eyes. Bruce was on top of her his eyes worried. “Are you ok?” “Yeah, I think so.”  
“Come on we’ve got to get you inside,” said Natasha as she pulled Cordelia to her feet.  
“Not until I know the girls are safe.” Luckily over the past several weeks there had been various talks and drills of what to do if and when this situation occurred. As she looked at the yard she saw those with the power of transmutation were already disappearing. Many of them were also managing to transport those that didn’t have the power with them though there were a few girls still running towards the porch. She saw Clint rush over to Sam.  
“Hey Man get me to the roof!”  
“Wait!” Cordelia flagged them down. “Sam, somebody’s got to warn the neighbors. Make sure they’re out of the way…”  
“We’ve got it Cordelia. Now seriously get inside!” With that he grabbed Clint and flew up into the air. Cordelia ran into the house Natasha, Maria, Bruce and Happy behind her.  
“We need to lock the doors,” said Natasha.  
“Not yet! There might still be students outside. I’m going to check on the girls they should be in the lab already.” Natasha nodded.  
“We’ll guard the door. Tell us as soon as you know everyone is in.”  
“Will do,” said Cordelia and she disappeared. She immediately appeared in the laboratory which due to its brick walls was one of the better rooms to take shelter in in. She pulled the switch on the wall that Bruce had installed when the team first came to the school and the skylight was instantly covered by metal plating. Luckily someone (probably Zoe or Queenie) had already turned on the lamps so she was able to see the girls in the lamplight. “Ok,” she said shakily “Emergency role call…” Once the role was completed which confirmed all the girls were inside she was able to breathe more easily though not by much. “I need everyone to stay here. I will be right back.” She transmutated back to the front hallway. “Everyone’s there!” She said to Natasha who immediately shut and locked the door.  
“How are we on windows?” Maria glanced around the room with trepidation.  
“Curtains are already shut and drawn and force fields are already up…Zoe and Queenie took care of that. They locked the other doors too.”  
“That’s why they’re on my council.”  
“We should probably get to the lab now,” said Bruce.  
“I can transmute us.”  
“Trans what?” Happy looked confused but before he could inquire further they had vanished from the front hallway and were in the lab.  
“That’s transmutation…” Cordelia glanced at them. Natasha shook her head.  
“Well that was a rush…”  
“Damn, Stark is going to be so jealous when I tell him about this,” said Maria.  
“Tell me what?” Tony’s voice echoed over her com.  
“Nothing Tony.”  
“Are you doing alright?” Cordelia gave a concerned look to Happy who looked rather queasy.  
“I think I’m ok…just…not used to that.”  
“Here’s something if you’re going to puke.” Madison handed Happy a large empty pot.  
“Madison!”  
“What? Doesn’t this qualify as anticipating the needs of others? You know something you’ve lectured me about fuck knows how many times?” Cordelia closed her eyes in frustration but her thoughts were interrupted by Zoe.  
“So we just wait here?”  
“I suppose so…until they capture him.” Madison rolled her eyes.  
“Why?”  
“To keep you safe. All of you.”  
“Cordelia, we’re witches. We don’t need to be kept safe,” Queenie interrupted Madison's protest.  
“Um excuse me, but how many times have you died?” However Madison continued unbowed.  
“When you brought me back from the land of the dead you told me that I should do something bigger and admittedly…I still don’t know what the hell that’s supposed to be. But one thing that I’m pretty sure of is I don’t want to sit cowering in a lab when our lives are on the line. You want me to do something bigger? I want to fight…for the coven.” As Madison stared at her with a determined fierceness, Cordelia felt a rush of emotions. She had never questioned her decision to bring Madison back from the land of the dead; not even when she was at her most tempestuous. It was at this moment however she fully realized that her faith in Madison had made a difference. She felt too that Madison was right, they couldn’t just sit here and let their battles be fought for them. She turned to Natasha and Maria.  
“You have to let us help.”  
“You can help; by staying here.”  
“For God’s sake Nat you have intelligence on us! You know what we can do!”  
“And I know what he can do! You’re not worth anything dead!”  
“Captain Rogers said when all this started this guy doesn’t work alone and even if he is do you think he’s the only one trying to kill witches? We all know you can’t be here every time someone makes a threat against us.” She looked at Natasha grimly, “This is our fight just as much as it is yours. I can’t let myself be afraid anymore.” She turned to her students, “anyone who can fight come with me. Otherwise stay here where you’ll be safe.” Madison immediately stood up as well as Queenie, Zoe, Nan, and Callista. After a moment of hesitation, Catherine and Misty rose as well. Cordelia beckoned them towards her and they formed a circle.  
“Cordelia…” she turned to Bruce who was looking at her pleadingly, “don’t do this.” She turned back to the girls.  
“Let’s go.” Before Bruce could protest further they had disappeared.

Meanwhile, bullets continued to rain down upon the lawn of the academy Steve used his shield for cover trying desperately to figure out where the shots were coming from. “Does anyone see anything?”  
“Negative! Tony and I are handling crowd control!”  
“Sam! Clint! How about you?”  
“Nothing on my end Cap! Not yet anyway.”  
“Clint?!”  
“Hold on… I’ve got him Cap! He’s in the house across the street. Down one my left! Do you want me to use the tranquilizers?”  
“Negative, I’m going to try to talk him down first.”  
“I can’t help but think that’s a seriously bad idea…”  
“That’s why I’ve got you guys here.” Hoisting his shield over him Steve ran towards the house but as he was making his way over Clint’s voice came over the coms again.”  
“Cap he’s headed for the roof!”  
“Sam! I could use a boost!”  
“On it!” Within seconds, Sam was pulling him towards the roof of the house. All of a sudden they were met with a force that knocked the two of them out of the sky and towards the academy. Steve realized with horror that they were headed directly for the iron gates which were covered in spikes. He tried to maneuver his shield to prepare for the worst only to suddenly find Sam and himself safe on the schools lawn.  
“What the hell?” He looked up towards the porch and saw Cordelia, Madison, and Zoe coming towards him. Damn it. “You should be inside!”  
“If we were you would be impaled on that fence by now,” said Cordelia.  
“I could have flown us out of the way,” Sam retorted.  
“Not with a broken wing…” Falcon looked and indeed found one of his metal wings had been ripped from his shoulder.  
“Shit!”  
“Look out!” Zoe’s yell brought Steve to attention and he dived in front of Sam Cordelia and the girls taking the fire with his shield. Suddenly the gunfire ceased. Steve peeked over his shield and saw the gun flying through the air towards the roof of the house where Hawkeye caught it and handed it to Callista who was there with him. Madison stepped out from behind Steve and walked toward Bucky who was standing in the middle of the street.  
“You know you’re pretty hot for a psychotic killer…how about a deal; you don’t shoot up my school and I’ll let you have your choice of sexual favors. Bucky pulled out another gun and fired a round of bullets at Madison who managed to stop them in midair. “Ok, guess I just try to fuck you up. She turned the bullets around and sent them flying towards Bucky who managed to duck out of the way.  
“For God’s sake Madison don’t kill him!”  
“But he’s trying to kill us!”  
“Disarm! Incapacitate if you have to but don’t kill!”  
“Fine!” Madison rolled her eyes and disappeared as Bucky threw a small silver ball towards the school.  
“Guys we’ve got an explosive device!” yelled Steve.  
“Got it!” Zoe managed to shift the explosive’s direction towards the sky where it erupted overhead at a safe distance. “How’s that for a firework?” She vanished as Bucky fired another round in her direction emptying the clip.  
“Cap, Tony and I have set up a perimeter and have everyone at a safe distance. You need us?”  
“No maintain the perimeter!” As Bucky went to replace the clip Steve took the opportunity to try and approach.  
“Bucky, I can’t let you do this!” Bucky merely stared at him with dead eyes and put another clip into his rifle. Steve threw his shield forward towards Bucky but he managed to deflect it off his metal arm and let loose another round of gunfire. Cordelia managed to redirect the bullets to miss Steve while he charged towards Bucky who put his gun back and pulled out a knife. As the two men grappled and weaved Cordelia could hear Steve shouting trying to get through to Bucky even while he fought.  
“Bucky, you’ve got to remember. It’s me Steve! Your name is James Buchanan Barnes! You grew up in New York. You were a member of the 107th and the Howling Commandos! Look at me!” Bucky tackled him and began punching him over and over with his metal arm.  
“I DON’T KNOW YOU!” Cordelia immediately used her telekinesis to fling Bucky off of Steve and send him flying across the schools lawn. As she ran to check on Steve’s injuries, she heard a gunshot and felt a sudden pain in her shoulder which forced her to her knees. She heard the girls scream. Misty and Catherine appeared next to her. She saw Natasha running towards her as well.  
“STAY BACK!” She choked out the words as she looked towards the direction of the shot. Bucky was standing there holding a pistol but instead of looking at her, he was gazing at the porch with a gleam of terror in his eye. She turned to see what he was staring at.  
Bruce was stepping off the porch but he wasn’t Bruce…his skin turned a deep shade of green and his shirt ripped as he grew rapidly in size becoming the Hulk. He leapt towards Bucky roaring as he tackled him to the ground. Bucky tried to escape but the Hulk picked him up by the legs and slammed him against the ground over and over again. Steve ran forward still bleeding his expression pained.  
“HULK DON’T SMASH!” The Hulk merely roared and continued to smash Bucky’s body against the ground.  
“Tony, do you have any ideas?” Natasha’s voice was shaking.  
“Wait!” Cordelia stood up weakly. “Let…me…let me try to calm him down.”  
“Cordelia he’s out of it. It’s hard to get him back once he’s the Hulk and you’re already hurt.”  
“Please…trust me.” Cordelia approached the Hulk who was still smashing Bucky’s body to the ground.  
“HULK!” She managed to get the creature’s attention. It gazed at her the anger seeming to fade a little…so far so good. “It’s over…the fight…you can put him down now. Could you do that for me?” He gazed at her confused.  
“He hurt you…I hurt him.”  
“He’s hurt too though…it’s hard to explain but somebody forced him to do what he did today. We need to help him now.”  
“You still hurt.”  
“It’s not so bad, I’ll be healed up in no time…” She held out her hand towards the Hulk. “It’s ok, you protected me, you protected the school and you did very well. How about you put him down and you can rest…we all can.” The Hulk put Bucky on the ground and reached a large green hand out towards Cordelia. She put her hand in his outstretched palm. Suddenly, the Hulk stumbled back rapidly shrinking and the color fading from his skin. Cordelia smiled in relief at seeing Bruce Banner once again and immediately went to him. “Are you ok?”  
“Been better…I don’t have a bullet wound.” He looked pointedly at her shoulder. “We should get you fixed up.”  
“I’m ok…I’m probably better than Barnes, I think he needs more medical attention then I do.” Bruce’s face grew pale.  
“Shit!” He ran over to Steve. “Steve I’m so sorry…I didn’t mean to…”  
“It’s alright,” Steve was remaining impressively calm though he looked overwhelmed, almost tearful. “I think he’s breathing…” Bruce leaned down listening to Bucky’s chest and nodded.  
“He is alive…I don’t know how but he is. But I’m pretty sure his injuries are…” He paused looking aggrieved “I imagine they’re pretty extensive. I’m not even sure how we’re supposed to move him…”  
“We can use transmutation Cordelia glanced at Steve. I can transport him to wherever you need him to rest and we can start healing him.”  
“We have a room set up in the other house upstairs.”  
“I’ll need you to picture it in your mind, I haven’t really been in the house as much as you have…” Steve nodded.  
“Ok,” he closed his eyes. Cordelia motioned to Catherine and Misty they sat on the ground near her. The three women each put a hand on Bucky’s chest along with Bruce. Cordelia put her free hand on Steve’s shoulder and focused and they disappeared appearing on the floor of what would be Bucky’s room. Cordelia managed to levitate his body onto the bed. Callista appeared in the room as well. “  
“Hawkeye said you guys would be in here,” she looked worriedly at Cordelia’s shoulder. “That looks bad.” Cordelia shook her head.  
“I’ll live…I need you to go to my lab…grab the healing dictionary…potions, mud, any supplies you can get your hands on.”  
“Got it,” Callista rushed from the room. Cordelia’s shoulder twinged in pain and she winced.  
“Hey, sit down,” Bruce led her over to a nearby chair. “We need to take care of this…luckily this is one thing I’m definitely sure I can help with.” He shook his head…”looks like a through and through.” Catherine rushed over from Bucky’s bed to Cordelia.  
"Allow me,” she put her hands on Cordelia’s shoulder. “Vulnere Remedium,” Bruce watched in amazement as the bullet hole closed and the bleeding stopped. It was at that moment Callista managed to return with Zoe and Queenie. Each of the girls had numerous supplies in hand. Callista took out a bottle and handed it to Cordelia.  
“You’ll probably want to drink this one…for the blood loss.” Bruce shook his head.  
“I’m starting to think I’m out of a job.”  
“Not really, magic has its own issues and we can’t be everywhere at once.”  
“Always a catch huh?” Bruce took Cordelia’s hand in his and she smiled at him in return.  
“At least you’re not out of work…”  
“Well worst case I have six other PhDs I can fall back on.” Cordelia managed a small laugh and drank the potion. The pain was quickly fading and she started to feel more invigorated. She took a deep breath and stood up slowly.  
“Girls we have a long night ahead of us, I suggest we get started.” Misty and the twins gathered with Cordelia and together they worked to heal the broken man before them.


	10. Chapter 10

Over the next week Cordelia found herself busy even without classes which she had cancelled until further notice to give the students time to recuperate from the events of the Fourth of July. She, Misty and the twins were still assisting in the care of Bucky Barnes who had still not awakened from the coma the Hulk had put him in. However, there had been other tasks she had needed to tend to. The main one being talking to the neighbors, figuring out how much they had witnessed of the incident and adjusting memories where required. Luckily most of them hadn’t seen much thanks to the quick actions of Tony and Colonel Rhodes. It was probably thanks to the presence of the Avengers that no one had called the police which allowed them to avoid the complications an investigation might have presented. However, She, Zoe, and Queenie had still needed to modify a few memories. Although Cordelia felt guilty about it, she knew it was necessary and promised herself to do some favor for the neighbors in question in the future to make up for the inconvenience…even if it was an inconvenience they wouldn’t remember.  
Despite this, rumors had still spread enough for a few members of the press to come sniffing around. Luckily it was only local news and Tony Stark or rather Maria Hill had taken care of them much to Cordelia’s relief. The official story was that a fireworks display had triggered an experimental Iron Man suit (which had caused great excitement among the press who immediately asked if Tony Stark would be taking up the mantel of Iron Man again) but that there had been no injuries and any damages would be taken care of by Stark industries. The story had quickly been taken up by the various news outlets and that evening an astounded Cordelia watched the report on the evening news with Maria and Natasha. She turned to Maria shaking her head in disbelief.  
“Honestly, I can’t believe the press bought that.”  
“For better or worse the media doesn’t want the truth so much as they want a story and the potential of Tony Stark coming out of his self-imposed retirement? That’s a story.” Maria took a sip from her glass of wine. “Actually Tony has been talking about making some new automated suits. He says it’s because it would be a quicker way to set up a perimeter, protect civilians…that kind of thing. Personally I think he’s just pissed he missed the action.” This comment elicited a roll of the eyes from Natasha and a laugh from Cordelia who finished her own glass and got up from her chair.  
“I need to go to bed ladies, I have to get up bright and early to take care of Mr. Barnes.”  
“Oh come on…one more glass!” Natasha poured another glass of wine from the bottle.  
“Nat!” Although Cordelia feigned frustration she sat back down and took a sip. “This needs to be my last one for the night though,” she said with as much firmness as she could muster. However she had to admit she was enjoying the company of the two women.  
“So do you think Mr. Stark…er Tony will come out of retirement?” Maria thought for a moment and nodded.  
“Eventually, I think so. He’s put too much into the whole Iron Man persona. I’m not sure he fully realizes how much of a part of him it is.” She sipped her wine thoughtfully. “The only thing I’m worried about it Pepper. She’s really good for him and I’m not sure she’ll be a fan of him getting back into things.”  
“Pepper’s cool though. I mean hell she puts up with way more from him then I would,” said Natasha. “Speaking of relationships are things patched up with you and Banner yet?”  
“Oh, this I have to hear!” Maria sat forward eyes lighting up with intrigue. Cordelia chuckled.  
“We’re…well we’ve been working together to take care of Barnes…honestly making sure he’s able to make a full recovery is the top priority at the moment.”  
“Well do yourself a favor, don’t wait too long. After all, you have your room to yourself now…” It was only Natasha’s exceptional reflexes that allowed her to dodge a throw pillow tossed at her by Cordelia. She shot her a cheeky grin as she took a sip of wine.  
“Ah, I guess that means you and Barton are sharing a sleeping bag again,” Maria gave Cordelia a conspiratorial smile.  
“Yeah though the attic of a house with a coma patient and,” Natasha paused and counted for a moment, “…six other people isn’t the most conducive to an erotic encounter.” Cordelia raised an eyebrow.  
“Oh and my school with around sixty teenage girls and two teenage boys is supposed to be an erotic haven for Bruce and myself?”  
“I have a solution! The both of you should get a hotel suite! Well not the both of you though that would be interesting…” The three women dissolved into laughter. “I can even put it on the Stark company credit card,” said Maria once they had composed themselves but this suggestion only caused more laughter.  
“That’s kind of you but I’m not sure your boss would appreciate that and frankly I would hardly say Bruce and I are at that point.” Cordelia drank down the rest of her glass, “I seriously have to go to bed now.”  
“Yeah we should be going too…after all Nat here needs to warm up Barton’s sleeping bag…” This comment triggered a throw pillow flung roughly by Natasha which actually hit Maria due to her being slightly buzzed from the wine. Cordelia was fairly tipsy herself which made it very easy for her to fall asleep once she made her way to bed.

The next morning Cordelia was awakened from a deep slumber by the sound of her alarm which exacerbated the pain in her head. After fumbling in the dark she managed to silence it and slipped out of bed cursing herself for letting Natasha talk her into that extra glass of wine. She got dressed and grabbed a glass of water in the kitchen before making her way next door and up to Bucky’s room where she met Misty outside in the hall.  
“Hey Misty, no changes I presume?”  
“No but he’s stable.”  
“Are you doing alright?”  
“I’m fine Cordelia, actually,” she lowered her voice, “I’m a little more worried about Steve. I think the man has gotten less sleep then I do and that’s sayin’ something.” Ever since the incident Steve had kept a constant vigil by Bucky’s side, barely sleeping and even taking meals in the room. He had rejected all the attempts from Cordelia, her students, or the other Avengers to be replaced on his watch and Cordelia wasn’t sure that her luck would be any better today than it had been for the past week but she merely nodded.  
“I’ll see what I can do. You try to get some rest too Misty,” she smiled gently at the girl and made her way into the room. Steve was in a chair by the bed. Although he was awake it was clear he was running on fumes and even with his abilities he was having trouble staying awake. Cordelia walked over to him and gently touched his shoulder.  
“Captain Rogers, you really should get some sleep,” she looked at him with concern as he shook his head.  
“I want…I should be here when he wakes up. We don’t know how he might react.”  
“We have pre-cautions in place and I would have thought my students and I would have proven ourselves by now. Besides do you really think you can fight anyone when you’re dead on your feet?”  
“I’ll get some coffee.”  
“I’ll get you the coffee and your sleeping bag. You don’t have to leave,” she said quickly before Steve could protest, “but can we at least put the sleeping bag in the corner and let you lay down? I’m sure sleeping in the chair can’t be comfortable.”  
“I’ll get the sleeping bag myself.”  
“No stay,” Cordelia said calmly. “After all, someone should be here.” She went downstairs and retrieved the sleeping bag for Steve from the living room and proceeded into the kitchen. She blinked for a moment wondering if her eyes were deceiving her but no…these appliances were brand new. She made a mental note to thank Tony for his generosity. She was pouring the last of the pot into a cup for Steve when Bruce shuffled in.  
“Hey Cordelia, I’ll be up there in a minute once I…” he noticed the empty pot, “…make a new batch of coffee.”  
“I’m sorry, I can get the water if you want.”  
“No, it’s fine, I’ve got it.”  
“Could you bring me a cup too? This one’s actually for Steve.”  
“I’m not sure he needs coffee, if anything I’d like to give him a sedative and let him get some rest.”  
“Well hopefully I can convince him to rest,” said Cordelia gesturing towards the sleeping bag, “but he wanted the coffee…”  
“Ah, bribery.”  
“Well, whatever works right?” She smiled at Bruce and for a moment time seemed to stand still as they both took in the stillness of the morning and the creeping sunlight coming in through the kitchen window.  
“It’s nice isn’t it? The quiet I mean,” Bruce said softly. “I’ve always liked this time of day.”  
“Me too,” said Cordelia gently. “I’d…um well this coffee’s probably getting cold. I’ll see you upstairs.” She pulled the sleeping bag into her free harm and made her way back to Bucky’s room. Steve was still sitting in the chair but stood when Cordelia walked in.  
“Over here alright?” Cordelia motioned towards the corner near the end of the bed.  
“That’s fine, I can…”  
“I can set it up. Here, drink your coffee.” Cordelia handed him the cup and motioned for him to sit. Although Steve seemed like he wanted to protest he also seemed too tired to put up much of a fight and followed Cordelia’s instructions. After a moment he spoke.  
“Ms. Goode?”  
“Um-hmm?”  
“I just want to say…” he paused, “well honestly, I don’t quite know where to start but…I know when we first came here we weren’t upfront with you and then there were moments where I wasn’t the most…”  
“Captain Rogers…”  
“Please,” he interrupted, “I guess I feel you deserve one more all-encompassing apology and…” his voice broke, “I want to thank you, for everything you’re doing for the team and for me and Bucky.”  
“Well, Thank You Captain Rogers, for helping to keep us safe. Although it’s probably long past time you call me Cordelia.”  
“As long as you call me Steve.”  
“Ok then, do you need any extra blankets or a pillow?”  
“No, the twins forced a blanket and pillow on me a few days ago. I didn’t want to take them at first but Callie threatened to turn me into a cat and make me sleep on a window seat,” he let out a small laugh. “I think she was kidding but I thought it would be best not to test her.” He swallowed the rest of his coffee and headed towards the corner of the room where with the pillow and blanket and crawled into the sleeping bag as Bruce walked in.  
“Well I see Cordelia has managed to talk you into getting some rest, about time.”  
“Just let me know if he wakes up or if you need anything ok?”  
“I promise I will,” said Bruce. Cordelia noticed that although Bruce’s demeanor was calm his gaze as he examined Bucky had a hint of worry. However he proceeded to examine Bucky as he did every day. By the time he was done Steve had given into his exhaustion and fallen asleep in the corner. “Everything’s stable, no changes.” His voice was flat and he proceeded to take a long drink from his coffee cup and collapsed into the chair that had previously been occupied by Steve.  
“Bruce…”  
“This is my fault. I was supposed to help Steve get his friend back and instead he’s in a coma because of me.” Cordelia pulled up an extra chair and sat beside him.  
“I’m pretty sure there’s enough blame to go around,” she said biting her lip. “If I hadn’t gotten shot, you probably wouldn’t have turned into the Hulk in the first place.”  
“I don’t blame you…if anything you kept me from killing the guy. Thanks for that by the way.”  
“Anytime,” without thinking Cordelia took Bruce’s hand but he didn’t resist instead allowing his fingers to be intertwined with hers.  
“Do you have any spells that could wake him up?” Cordelia shook her head.  
“Believe me, I’ve been searching through every spell book and tome I have but so far I haven’t found much of anything.” Her brow furrowed in frustration, “healing the body in many cases is actually not all that difficult but healing the mind is…complicated, to say the least. I’m still waiting to hear back from a few sources though, so there is still hope.” Cordelia hoped she sounded convincing to Bruce because she was unsure whether even she with all her powers could do anything to wake Bucky from this coma that somehow seemed more sinister and challenging then even the deepest enchanted sleep.  
Her thoughts were interrupted by the sound of rushed footsteps coming up the stairs. Misty rushed into the room. She was breathless but her face had an expression of elation.  
“Cordelia…it’s Stevie! She’s got a way to help!” Before either Cordelia or Bruce could respond a woman with long blonde hair draped in a flowing shawl and carrying a book bound in leather strode into the room with a manner that was almost regal. Bruce’s mouth dropped open.  
“You’re…oh my God you’re Stevie Nicks…and you’re a witch…I…it’s nice to meet you.”  
“It’s a pleasure to meet you too Dr. Banner.” She smiled magnanimously at him and turned to Cordelia.  
“I believe I sent my congratulations to you following the Seven Wonders but I don’t believe I’ve ever had the chance to meet you in person. It’s an honor Cordelia.”  
“Thank you…Ms…”  
“Stevie is fine,” she handed the book to Cordelia, “I’m sorry I wasn’t able to get back to you sooner but I received your message. As it so happens I’ve had this manuscript for years, it is the only one left in existence but I would like to give it to you, and the school. Hopefully it will help.” Cordelia turned the pages in wonder.  
“This was written by…”  
“Rhiannon…Oh yes, she was real,” she said in response to the surprised expressions on the faces of the other three.  
“So…she was a witch?!” Misty’s eyes sparkled with delight.  
“That and so much more.” She turned back to Cordelia, “Unfortunately I must be going but I wish you all the best. Perhaps you can walk me out Misty?”  
“Sure…of course…it’s so great to see you again!” The two of them left the room and Cordelia immediately began to examine the ancient manuscript. Bruce shook his head.  
“Stevie Nicks is a witch...I guess it makes sense but…wow!” He grinned and shook his head. “I think I might need some more coffee. In fact, I’ll get us breakfast, you’ll probably need it.”  
“That would be great, thanks!” Bruce made his way to the kitchen and Cordelia poured over the manuscript with a cautious optimism that perhaps the key to healing Bucky Barnes would be found here.

“Steve! Wake up!” Steve slowly opened his eyes. The afternoon sun streamed through the window bathing the room in golden tones. Cordelia had knelt beside him. Her face was glowing with excitement and she was holding a leather book. “I think we’ve found something to help Bucky.”  
“Say no more,” he made it to his feet and walked to the side of the bed with Cordelia. Bruce was already sitting in a chair nearby. He nodded to Steve and motioned to the chair next to him.  
“I figured I’d be on standby, have a seat.” Steve shook his head.  
“Honestly, I think I’m too nervous right now.” The two men watched as Cordelia leaned over the bed, put her hands on Bucky’s temples and closed her eyes.  
“Gall fy meddwl feddwl â'ch un chi.”


	11. Chapter 11

Cordelia found herself standing in the center of what appeared to be a large baseball stadium. The wind whipped her hair in her face and she brushed it out of the way as she took in her surroundings. The stadium was empty; in fact though Cordelia strained to listen but all around her was an eerie silence.  
“Who the hell are you?!” Cordelia turned to face the direction of the voice. It was Bucky Barnes looking as he had in 1945; his hair cropped and his arm still whole. However in spite of looking every bit the part of the brave Howling Commando he had been, there was a slight tremor in his voice and his eyes were full of suspicion.  
“My name is Cordelia…Cordelia Goode. I…” Cordelia paused for a moment, uncertain of how to truly explain all that had occurred. Finally she simply said, “I’m here to help you.” However in spite of this assurance, Bucky seemed unwilling to let down his guard. Cordelia decided to pursue a different track. “Do you know where you…where we are?”  
“Geez Lady, haven’t you ever heard of Ebbets Field?”  
“What I mean is that this…”she gestured to their surroundings, “It’s all in your head. You’re actually at my school in New Orleans. You’ve been in a coma for about a week now.” She expected Bucky to react with disbelief but instead his shoulders seemed to slump.  
“I know.”  
“You mean…?”  
“Well I don’t know you and I don’t exactly know what I’m doing at a school in New Orleans but I know that this is my ‘dream’ if you can call it that.”  
“Great! In that case you should be able to wake yourself up!”  
“It’s not that simple don’t you think I’ve tried that? He keeps me here.”  
“Who?”  
“The soldier.” Bucky kicked at the pitcher’s mound in frustration. “I tried to hold him off for God knows how long but eventually he took over. He’s part of me so he anticipates my every move. Luckily he can’t get in here so,” he shrugged, “it’s not so bad…I get to practice pitching. Always dreamed of playing for the Dodgers. Granted, I didn’t think I’d be living in the stadium…”  
“Wait a second,” a thought had just come to Cordelia. “We’re at Ebbets field so we’re in New York. Your version of New York in the nineteen thirties and forties.” She looked intently at Bucky. “Where was home for you? Before the war?”  
“I lived at Vinegar Hill from the time I was a kid. Right before the war I was living with…” his eyes clouded over.  
“With Steve?” Bucky looked stunned.  
“How do you know about Steve?”  
“I know him. He’s at the school. It’s a long story but…he came to find you. He’s waiting for you Bucky. He’s waiting for you to wake up. And I think that can happen by getting you home.” For a moment Bucky smiled but then his face clouded over.  
“There’s still the soldier.”  
“True but this time you aren’t going to be alone.”  
“No offense but...I’m not sure how a dame like you is going to get me all the way to Vinegar Hill. It’s an hour’s walk from here and that isn’t accounting for us being attacked.”  
“Bucky…this is your mind, your dream. You can get whatever you need to fight your way out of here.” Bucky eyed her skeptically, “Just try it.”  
“Well,” said Bucky hesitantly, “if I have any hope of fighting this guy I need a gun.”  
“Imagine it then.” Bucky rolled his eyes but closed them as he took a deep breath. He opened them, scoffed and then kicked at the ground. Both Cordelia and Bucky heard a clunk and with a look of shock Bucky reached to the ground and picked up a sniper rifle that had appeared on the grass between his and Cordelia’s feet.  
“Say lady, what do you teach?” Cordelia smiled.  
“Witchcraft.”

Bucky and Cordelia made their way out of the stadium into the empty streets. Though there was no sign yet of the winter soldier, they proceeded down the street cautiously with Bucky holding the sniper rifle. Bucky turned to Cordelia.  
“Wait a second, if you’re a witch can’t we just…I don’t know, ride on a broom to Vinegar Hill?” It was Cordelia’s turn to roll her eyes.  
“First of all don’t believe everything you hear about witches, but it is possible I can transmute us.” She stood in front of Bucky and took his hand. “Picture it in your mind; your home.” Bucky closed his eyes and the next second Cordelia was standing in front of a rather run down building but Bucky was not with her. Quickly she reappeared near the stadium next to Bucky.  
“What happened? Where were you?!”  
“I was there…at…let’s try it again.” Bucky closed his eyes but once again Cordelia found herself alone in front of the building. She sighed with frustration and reappeared in front of Bucky. It appears I can transmute but for some reason I can’t take you with me. It looks like we’re going to have to go the long way.”  
“So we have to walk? Great.”  
“Again, Bucky, you’re forgetting this is all in your head. How would you have gotten home from Ebbets Field in the forties?” Bucky thought for a moment then suddenly his face brightened.  
“The BMT! There’s a station at Prospect Park. We could probably catch a train or I guess I could summon one…” He grabbed Cordelia’s arm. “Come On!”  
They had managed to make their way to the Prospect Park subway station when all of sudden shots began to ring out in the empty street. Bucky and Cordelia ducked for cover in an alley.  
“We’ll have to make a run for it!” Bucky yelled over the gunfire. On the count of three we run and I’ll cover you ok?!”  
“Ok!” Cordelia shouted in return. Bucky nodded.  
“Ok then! One…two…three!” The two of them dashed across the street to the subway station Bucky returning rifle fire. It wasn’t until they made it to the subway entrance that they saw the Winter Soldier walking towards them, his gun trained on the two of them.”  
“Damn it!” Bucky groaned. “We’re never going to outrun him!”  
“Maybe we can slow him down though!” Cordelia closed her eyes and pointed her hand towards the subway entrance “CREARE OBICE!” A twisted metal gate sprung up at the entrance between them and the oncoming Winter Soldier. Bucky smiled.  
“Not bad.”  
“Let’s not waste time, come on!” The two of them made their way down into the belly of the subway and to a track where a train was waiting for them. The moment they rushed into the car the doors closed behind them and the train began to move. Bucky collapsed into a seat breathing heavily at first but after a moment he began to laugh. “We made it!” Cordelia smiled at him.  
“So far so good.” She sat across from him. So how long till we get there?”  
“Well we do have to switch trains at Atlantic but once we do that…” He sighed. “I still can’t believe we made it this far.” He grinned at Cordelia, “Thank you…” he tilted his head, “say, how does a dame like you get roped into all of this anyway?”  
“It’s complicated…”she sighed, “I’m not really sure now is a good time to get into it…” Bucky’s face suddenly fell, his eyes filled with a sudden comprehension.”  
“He…I…tried to attack you didn’t I? That’s why I’m there and that’s why Steve was there…to stop me.” Cordelia nodded.  
“Yes, Steve was there to protect the school but he’s also there for you Bucky. He wanted to save you from the beginning. If it means anything I don’t blame you…no one does, you were forced to be the Winter Soldier.”  
“Is that really an excuse though I mean…do you know how many Nazis we captured who claimed that they were just following orders? How the hell am I better than any of them? I mean fuck…maybe you and Steve should just let me…” Cordelia interrupted him firmly.  
“Bucky, let’s get something straight, even those Nazi soldiers you are comparing yourself to had choices that you didn’t have.” She moved over to sit next to him and spoke her next words softly. “You dying is not going to fix things or bring anyone back. If you want to make things better then let’s focus on waking you up ok?” Bucky nodded grimly.  
“Ok.” The two sat in silence as subway raced on through the underground darkness.

They arrived at Atlantic Station without incident.  
“So,” Cordelia turned to Bucky, “do which subway do we take?”  
“Actually said Bucky, we’re going up. This next train is one of the elevated ones.” Cordelia found herself trying to recall whether or not New York still had elevated trains but quickly brought her mind back to the task at hand. They made their way above ground and within minutes they were racing above the city with the New York skyline outside the windows.  
They had been on the train for over ten minutes when all of a sudden the train seemed to shake and the lights flickered. Bucky leapt out of his seat. He stood in front of Cordelia his gun cocked.  
“He’s here.”  
“How much time do we have?”  
“Not much and it’s still a ways to Vinegar Hill.”  
“Maybe we can hide…make him think the car is empty?”  
“No, he knows me…he is me. That’s why I’ve never been able to outrun him.” Bucky’s eyes widened suddenly and he tackled Cordelia pushing her under the train seats as an explosion rocked the car and ripped off the wall of the train car.  
“Bucky listen to me!” Cordelia yelled above the wind entering the car. The Soldier may be a part of you but you’re a part of him too! You should have all his skills. You can anticipate him!” Bucky nodded grimly.  
“Right!” As the Winter Soldier made his way down the center aisle Bucky shot. The soldier dodged out of the way returning fire. As the men exchanged fire Cordelia crouched behind the seats trying to avoid the hail of bullets. We need to get off this train, she thought to herself. An idea came to her. She pointed towards the end of the train car and tried to focus through the hail of bullets.  
“Duplicare!” A perfect replica of herself and Bucky appeared near the end of the train car. The duplicate of Bucky forced open the door of the train car and he and Cordelia’s duplicate raced into another train car. The Winter Soldier followed like a wolf on the hunt of its prey. Bucky turned to Cordelia.  
“You couldn’t have done that before?”  
“Sooner or later he’s going to realize it’s a trick. We’re going to have to jump.” Cordelia made her way to the open space in the wall of the train car. She turned towards Bucky who was looking at the space behind her fearfully.  
“I can’t, this is how it all started…when I fell from the train and HYDRA captured me.”  
“Bucky it’s the only way out.”  
“I can’t…I can’t do it. My God, I can see it the river…”  
“Bucky listen to me. We’ve made it this far. I promise I will do whatever I can to get you home. Surely you trust me by now?” Bucky closed his eyes. His breathing was ragged but when he finally opened them again, he nodded at Cordelia.  
“Steve trusted you so I do too.”  
“We’ll jump together ok?” Cordelia held out her hand and Bucky walked towards her and grasped it. However when he looked below him he recoiled in horror. Although the New York skyline was still in front of them below them lay icy cliffs and the Danube River. He stumbled backwards, “The river…damn it DAMN!” His eyes brimmed with tears “I’ll never get home. I’ll never be free of him!”  
“Bucky! This is all in your head ok? You are going to get home! I promise I’m going to get you home.” Bucky took another ragged breath.  
“Let’s do this before I change my mind.” He took Cordelia’s hand and closed his eyes. On the count of three?” Cordelia heard distant shots.  
“We may not have that much time.”  
“Then NOW!” The two of them jumped. As the wind rushed past their faces and the ground approached at a rapid rate, Cordelia cried out “Tardus Lapsum!” They immediately slowed to where they were almost floating and finally their feet touched the earth which had become once again the city streets of Brooklyn. Bucky’s knees buckled underneath him and Cordelia caught him before he collapsed completely.  
“Steady! You’re alright! You’re alright.” Bucky nodded.  
“Thanks,” he caught his breath. “I can see why Steve trusts you, you really are one hell of a dame.”  
“Anytime,” said Cordelia. Bucky quickly took inventory of the surrounding buildings.  
“Good news we don’t have too much further to go. In fact,” a car appeared in the street, “we can drive the rest of the way.”  
“You’re getting the hang of it.”  
“Yeah too bad I won’t be able to do this in the real world.” He moved to open the door for Cordelia but she waved him off.  
“I appreciate the chivalry but we’re better off not wasting time. Get in!” They made their way into the car and Bucky turned the key that was in the ignition. Cordelia suddenly turned towards him.  
“Where are the seatbelts?!”  
“What?!”  
“Seatbelts! They are…safety devices that keep you in cars instead of…crashing through windows!!!” By this point the car was racing down the streets of Brooklyn and Cordelia was desperately clinging to the seat praying they wouldn’t crash. “I mean can’t you imagine some?”  
“No I can’t since I’m not altogether sure what you are talking about but I promise you ma’am I have managed to drive without ‘seatbelts’ and somehow I lived to tell the tale.” Cordelia shook her head in disbelief.  
“I keep forgetting how much has changed from the forties.”  
“What decade is it anyway?”  
“Honestly I’d rather not say while you’re driving.”  
“Shit, that long?”  
“We’ll go through it when you’re awake.”  
“Well tell me something are there flying cars?”  
“No, but we did put a man on the moon.”  
“Ugh,” Bucky shrugged, “they were able to do that but they weren’t able to get us flying cars?”  
“Trust me, the way people drive you wouldn’t want there to be flying cars.”  
“I hope that wasn’t a dig at my driving.”  
“Now why would I do that?” Bucky grinned.  
“Relax, you said it yourself…this is all in my head right? I trusted you…now it’s your turn to trust me.” Cordelia chuckled and shook her head.  
“Ok then,” Bucky pressed on the gas and the car rocketed down the road.

Finally (after what seemed like an eternity to Cordelia), Bucky slowed the car and pulled into an alley between two ramshackle buildings. “We’re here,” he shook his head, “my God, I’m finally here.”  
“Well let’s not waste anymore time then.” Cordelia smiled with him and opened the door of the car.  
“Hey I’m serious you know…I don’t know how to thank you…”  
“We’re not done yet so…” She was cut off by the sound of shots.  
“Fuck!” Bucky leapt out of the car and fired in the direction of the shots. “Follow me!” He and Cordelia ran out of the alley towards one of the nearby buildings they had made their way to the bottom of the stairs when the shots started up again. This time they saw the Winter Soldier stalking towards them gun in hand. “You go! I’ll take care of him.”  
“No!” Cordelia turned to Bucky, I can handle him. “You get to the apartment!”  
“But I can’t let you…”  
“For God’s sake this is no time to be a gentleman GO!” Bucky ran up the wooden stairs as Cordelia aimed spell after spell at the soldier striding towards her. “Any luck?!”  
“I’ve got the key now!”  
“I can’t hold him off much longer!” Bucky unlocked the door of the apartment and opened it inside there was a glowing golden light that seemed to pulse like a heartbeat. “Hey! You’ve got to see this!”  
“Just GO IN!!!” Bucky took a deep breath and walked in through the door. Cordelia had turned just long enough to see him walk in. When she turned back she saw the Winter Soldier fire his gun and the bullet aimed at her heart was racing towards her.

Cordelia opened her eyes gasping like one without oxygen. She found herself stumbling backwards, falling but then she felt someone’s arms around her. It was Bruce.  
“Cordelia! It’s ok you’re back… you’re back. Just take a deep breath.” He guided her gently towards one of the nearby chairs.  
“Are you alright Cordelia?” She suddenly became conscious of Steve’s presence.  
“I’m fine. Bucky he should have…”  
“He hasn’t woken up yet.”  
“No!” Cordelia, put her head in her hands. “I’m so sorry Steve, I thought…I.”  
“Hey,” said Steve gently, “you did the best you could and I’m grateful for that. It’s a lot more than some people would do.”  
“No, no, this can’t be right…” Cordelia felt as though she might burst into tears when suddenly from the bed there was a groan.  
“Where am I?”  
“Bucky?!” Steve immediately turned towards the bed. Bucky’s eyes were open although his manner was sluggish. “Cordelia! He’s alive you did it!” Bucky merely shook his head in confusion.  
“Steve is that you?” Steve laughed blinking back tears.  
“It’s me. I’m here Buck.” Bruce cleared his throat.  
“As much as I hate to interrupt…,”  
“Of course,” Steve moved so Bruce could examine Bucky.  
“Bucky, my name is Dr. Bruce Banner, I’m just going to check your reflexes ok?” As he began to examine the patient, Bucky shook his head.  
“Dr…? Steve, where am I?” Steve smiled reassuringly tears escaping him.  
“You’re home Buck…you’re home.”


	12. Chapter 12

The next morning when Cordelia went to check on Bucky’s progress, she found him sitting with Steve at the kitchen table, the remnants of a recently devoured breakfast nearby. They both stood when Cordelia entered the room.  
“There’s no need to stand on my account,” she said pleasantly. “I’m not interrupting anything am I?”  
“Not at all, actually um…” Bucky shifted uncomfortably, “Steve’s been explaining everything to me and I just wanted to thank you for everything you’ve done to help me and if there is anything I can do…to make up for…”  
“As far as I’m concerned that’s all in the past.” She paused unsure, but decided to press ahead. “I do need to ask you though…do you remember anything about who might have sent you after the Coven? Was it HYDRA or was it someone else?” Bucky closed his eyes and took a deep breath. When he opened them again he gazed mournfully at Cordelia.  
“I wish I could tell you but I don’t know. I remember leaving the Smithsonian…the Captain America exhibit,” he glanced at Steve. “After that it’s just bits and pieces. I remember getting the assignment to come here to the school and…” Bucky let out a ragged sigh unable to finish the sentence. “It wasn’t HYDRA, at least I don’t think it was. They were really careful never to show their faces or give me any hint of who they were. HYDRA never seemed to give a damn about that. They had all the tech though so they probably had some connection. I’m really sorry I can’t tell you more.”  
“It’s alright,” she smiled trying to hide her inner apprehension. She had hoped to get more answers about who had sent Bucky after the Coven. Unfortunately, it looked as though they were at a dead end on that trail and she certainly didn’t want to make Bucky feel any worse than he already seemed to be feeling. Taking a deep breath, she looked to Steve. “So, what’s next then?”  
“We take the fight to HYDRA.” Cordelia turned from her place the table to see Nick Fury standing in the doorway. He nodded towards Bucky, “Sgt. Barnes, glad to see you’re recovering.”  
“Nick.” Steve nodded, “I take it you have something for us?”  
“I’ve picked up intelligence on several HYDRA labs in Europe. I’ve already sent everyone a copy of the files, including Stark and Thor. Whenever you and the team are ready you can ship out of here and shut the sons of bitches down.”  
“Wow…that’s great Nick, can you give us forty eight hours?”  
“Whatever you need Cap.” He turned to walk away but Cordelia cleared her throat.  
“Mr. Fury,” she said in her sternest voice, “just a note any future plans or missions you need my help with…I want to be filled on all the details.”  
“Whatever you want Ms. Goode,” Nick said with an ease of manner that managed to both impress and irritate her. “We’ll be in touch.” With a final nod he made his way out. Steve turned his attention back to Bucky and Cordelia.  
“Nick is…” he shrugged his shoulders sheepishly at them both.  
“He’s something else,” Cordelia finished with a slight chuckle. Steve turned to Bucky.  
“I’m sorry I have to leave you like this Buck…” Bucky cut him off.  
“Don’t be, just give those HYDRA bastards hell.”  
“Will do,” said Steve with a small chuckle. “Maybe we can get you moved to Stark tower…” Cordelia interrupted.  
“I would be perfectly fine with Bucky staying here at the school for as long he needs.” The two men looked at her with a mixture of surprise and gratitude. “Well, if you’re going to repair your memory then we need to keep working together and that way we can continue to supervise your recovery. Besides,” she said with a wry smile, “from the tales I’ve heard from Nat and Bruce I couldn’t subject you to actually living with Tony Stark.” Steve laughed and Bucky managed a smile.  
“Well,” said Steve standing up from the table. “I guess I should let the team know the plan.”  
“I’ll leave you to it,” said Cordelia. As she walked back to the Academy she suddenly felt a pang of sadness. She had grown used to having the team around the school and though there was certainly no danger of loneliness, it would be strange to no longer have Natasha nearby or Bruce… She sighed, she and Bruce had been so busy taking care of Bucky that they hadn’t managed to really talk about... well what is there to talk about? We’re friends. That’s all.  
Is it? Her heart beat in response.

“Hey man, you said you needed to see me what’s up?” Sam looked at Steve questioningly.  
“Well as you know we have to leave soon to take down the HYDRA bases but there are a few things I need for you to do.”  
“Oh boy desk duty…” Sam smiled at Steve’s look of concern, “relax man, whatever it is I’m happy to help. Do you need me to look after Barnes?”  
“No, Cordelia’s going to take care of him here though, if you could look in on him every now and then I would appreciate it. However the top priority is figuring out if there are any clues to who may have sent Bucky after the Coven… just in case they try to do anything else.”  
“I take it Bucky doesn’t remember much?”  
“That and apparently they were careful about keeping their identities under wraps. Bucky said that the HYDRA members over the years never tried to hide their identities which makes me think that someone else might be involved. Either way, I don’t want any surprises and while I have every confidence in Cordelia and the girls I don’t want them caught unaware either.”  
“Sounds like a plan.”  
“Oh there is one more thing.” Steve looked at Sam in earnest, “could you try to find any information about Robert Geoffrey Whitmore. If you can look under any possible aliases he might have used Rob, Robbie, maybe even Jeff…”  
“The twin’s brother right?”  
“Hopefully he won’t be as difficult to find as Bucky and maybe we can get the guy to go home or at least give the girls a call let them know he’s ok.”  
“You really care about them don’t you?”  
“Well, they’re good kids and I know something about what they’re going through.”  
“I feel you man but just don’t underestimate how messed up family dynamics can get.”  
“What do you mean?”  
“I’m just saying when it comes to some family arguments…fighting HYDRA might be a hell of a lot easier.”

Bruce was packing up his belongings in his room when Natasha came to the door and knocked on the doorframe.  
“You can come in,” said Bruce not looking up from his packing. “Geez it’s amazing how spread out everything gets after a few months.”  
“You know,” said Natasha, “you might want to check over at the school…in case there’s something you forgot over there.”  
“Oh yeah, I was going to do that tonight…check Cordelia’s lab and what not.” Natasha chuckled.  
“Well, I wasn’t really talking about scientific equipment.” Bruce let out a sigh, part in sadness part in frustration.  
“I had a feeling.”  
“Look Bruce,” Natasha walked over and sat beside him on the floor, “I was trained from the time I can remember to be a weapon. To seduce, to kill… I know what it’s like to feel like a monster. Hell, to be one, because that’s what I was. But…”  
“Nat, look I get that you’re trying to help but the ‘power of love’ or whatever isn’t going to stop me from being the Hulk.” Nat rolled her eyes.  
“What I was going to say is it took me a long time to get to where I am and some days it’s still a fight but…” she paused unable to find the words until she finally said, “this…The Avengers, Clint, hell just being human, it’s all worth fighting for. And,” she said with a slight smile, “actually you’re wrong…Cordelia managed to calm you down so technically the ‘power of love’ did help.” She got up from the floor and dusted herself off. “Just think about it ok…before we have to leave?” She walked out of the room leaving Bruce deep in thought.

“So is that everything?” Steve looked around at the other members of the team and Bucky.  
“Yep, think we’re cleaned out,” said Clint who had entered with one final duffle bag.  
“Guess we better turn in our keys then,” said Steve.  
“I’ll walk with you,” said Bucky. They all trod over to the school together and Steve knocked at the door. Kyle opened and gave them a smile.  
“We just wanted to give back the keys.”  
“Actually Cordelia, wants to see you guys before you leave. She’ll meet you at the staircase.” He led them inside to Cordelia who was at the main staircase with the whole school. The girls applauded and cheered when they walked in. Once the noise had died down, Cordelia spoke.  
“I hope you didn’t think we’d let you leave without saying goodbye.”  
“Well,” Steve looked around, at all the faces of the girls, of the other Avengers, at Bucky and smiled, “it…means a lot. If you ever need anything…we’ll…be here. He went to hand Cordelia the keys but she held up her hand.  
“Keep them. Just in case. I’ve said before, this is our home and now it’s your home too if you ever need it.” She suddenly stepped forward and embraced Steve tightly. The students clapped in appreciation and when Steve stepped back, Catherine and Callista went to hug him as well and that led to a line of young witches all wanting to give hugs to ‘Captain America.’ For his part Steve embraced them gladly if somewhat bashfully. It was then that Natasha took the opportunity to give Cordelia a hug.  
“Ok so I already hacked into your phone and put my number in and everybody else’s so call me; I need somebody to talk about girl stuff with.” Cordelia laughed.  
“I will,” she hugged Natasha. She turned to Clint and gave him a hug as well, “You be safe too, take care of her.”  
“Please, she usually ends up taking care of me...”  
“I don’t doubt that.” She turned to hug Sam.  
“Cordelia, it’s been real, I’ll probably actually be seeing you again real soon.” He smiled at Cordelia’s surprised expression. “You didn’t expect us to leave and not have anyone follow up and make sure you were ok?” Cordelia chuckled.  
“Well after meeting all of you I wouldn’t have expected anything less.” She finally turned to Bruce.  
“Well Bruce, it’s…been a pleasure.” She found herself unable to move forward and it was Bruce who stepped towards her and took her hands in his.  
“Cordelia, I just want to say…” Bruce looked at her intently “I still don’t know if I can ever have a normal life but when the Hulk…I guess what I’m trying to say is maybe we could…” He leaned forward pulling her into his arms and kissed her tenderly. Cordelia closed her eyes and kissed him in return. She heard several whoops and cheers from the girls and distinctly heard Madison exclaim in an exasperated tone, “finally!”  
She broke away from Bruce and giving him a beaming smile said, “I think we could work something out.”  
“Great! I uh… my God I feel like I’m back in Junior High. I should probably give you my number…”  
“No need already in there,” Natasha interrupted. Bruce and Cordelia both chuckled shaking their heads.  
“Of course it is,” said Bruce. “I’ll definitely call, facetime and I’ll try to come back here as soon as I can.  
“Well, until then...” The two of them kissed again much more passionately.

In a room in New York the new board of directors of the Delphi Trust were sitting in a meeting staring in anger at a dark screen in front of them.  
“You promised that this would work. You promised us this great weapon that would exterminate those witches once and for all and would allow us to avenge our fallen. Your plans have FAILED!” The CEO slammed his fist on the table in front of him.” A clipped voice with a Swiss accent responded from the darkness of the screen.  
“It is not my problem sir that you are clearly incompetent. The so-called “witches” of New Orleans are your problem not mine. Was it not I who led you to the Winter Soldier?”  
“Yes and not only was he defeated but our intelligence indicates that the Witches have formed an alliance with the Avengers to help your weapon regain his memory. If they uncover too much they might make a connection, to us and to you. Instead of destroying our enemies you’ve just made them more powerful!”  
“What is that old saying? When you point the finger of blame there are three pointing back at you… I told to you to be careful when you captured him. Surely you hid your identities well enough and followed my instructions to wipe his mind and program him. Most likely, they will all assume it is HYDRA which they think is being destroyed. However, if I may remind you, I fulfilled my part of the bargain and I expect my payment.” The CEO turned red.  
“If you think we are giving you what we promised after that catastrophe you have another thing coming Zola.” He said this last work with disgust. The voice merely tutted.  
“You sad little ungrateful man. I was promised your research…”  
“You were promised our research on the condition that every single witch in that school would be dead,” the CEO interrupted, “As they are still alive, the bargain is off.”  
“Have it your way.” The voice said. “I will get it myself.”  
The CEO stormed out the room, the other members of the board following him. “Alert research and development to increase their firewalls and all security around files for the prototypes,” he shouted at his secretary.  
“Yes sir!” She dialed the extension for the lab.  
Meanwhile Zola, a mind alive within the web merely observed with amusement as the cyber security team increased their firewalls. It would be inconvenient of course, he had already been chipping away at their defenses, but he was already calculating the many algorithms and outcomes that would enable him to hack his way through. Unlike those silly little men, he had all the time in the world.


End file.
